Well, I did it again! I was playing around on the keyboard Sunday morning before rehearsal with the song Better is One Day by Kutless when it started to sound like another song… Fire and Rain by James Taylor. So… another hour at the computer with my audio interface and a Karaoke version of Fire and Rain and here you go everyone!

So, this recording is a good year in the making from my last multi-track recording. In the interim, I have purchased a Lexicon Alpha USB audio interface and a Behringer mixer and started using Adobe Audition to pull off a better version of what I’ve been trying to accomplish and now it has hit it’s target!

This past Sunday our church band put together an arrangement of “Jesus Will Fix It” using myself on keyboard, along with a couple of drummers, bass player, and some lead guitar work –all in the key of E-minor. It was bugging me all afternoon how this arrangement sounded so familiar and then it hit me: Love me 2 Times by The Doors! I managed to find a clean karaoke version of the song and started cutting it up in Adobe Audition to follow the chord progression of Jesus Will Fix It. What you hear took about 2 hours and includes a total of about 10 different tracks (counting 4 vocal tracks). Overall, I’m very pleased with both the hardware and software I’m now working with!

Here you can see a shot of some of the stitching inside the FDP rack cabinet. This particular stitch is called a “Chicago” stitch. What made this job particularly difficult was having to work around the bracket that is in place to protect the cables.

In this shot from below you can see more of the Chicago stitch and how it holds the cables down and keeps them individually separated.

Matthew 10:22
You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

–Here Jesus makes it clear that salvation is for those who persevere.

***Here are a few scriptures that involve a very similar “IF” statement (emphasis added)***

1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, IF you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Colossians 1:22-23
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation —IF you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Hebrews 3:6
But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, IF indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory

Hebrews 3:14
We have come to share in Christ, IF indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

Simply put, salvation is for those who persevere and nothing less. Is salvation revocable? Absolutely.

How many times do we remember seeing some extraordinarily evil person unleash terror on some Christian only to have said Christian say on the news that they forgive them? Parents of raped & murdered children or the thief that essentially stole someone’s retirement. In a way it resembles a miraculous feat to be able to forgive someone after committing something so heinous –it can be a beautiful thing. But is it biblical to do so?

First of all, what does it mean to forgive someone? Dictionary.com has two different meanings listed:
1. to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.)
2. to cease to blame or hold resentment against

It is the latter definition that I think many of us understand as the forgiveness we need to be passing out. One involves a debt (most likely one that cannot be repaid) and the other deals with resentment and blame. Without getting into the original Hebrew / Greek words used in the original Biblical text, I believe that the Bible is talking about the former definition when mentioning forgiveness. Here is one of the scriptures that has brought up this question in my own life:

Luke 17:3-5
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

a) The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman.

–I still laugh a little at the response of the apostles when I read this one. I think the point can be made that this is referring to fellow disciples (something I didn’t catch before) and I don’t think Jesus was talking bout people outside of that circle at that moment but…

Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

–Here again I see the person being called into question is “my brother” (a note of interest at this point “…and who is my brother?” can be another study) but there is no mention of repentance. Jesus then goes on to the parable of the unmerciful servant where many large debts are being pardoned. In context, it is hard to add an element of repentance as it deals with debts that simply cannot be paid back -repentance is impossible to apply to the parable.

***Here’s a few others that are closely related***

Matthew 6:14-16
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Mark 11:25
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Luke 6:37
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

–All three verses make a correlation between how we forgive and how God forgives. That makes an interesting point to me. God forgives our own sins ONLY when we repent from what I read (1 John 1:9) -and we’re called to treat others as God treats us. This makes the concept simple to me: forgiveness IS conditional. Still, I think that we tend to make a connection between the connotation and the denotation of the term. Conditional forgiveness doesn’t mean that we can hold resentment against the unrepentant.

One of the most interesting things I’ve personally noticed when listening to the older albums DEVO created, was how their song introductions are great and the rest of the song doesn’t quite stand up to the promise of the music the intro gave me. But Baker’s producing created a collection of songs that hold their own throughout. From beginning to end, each song stands up as a wonderful example of how to layer many sounds together and still not sound “messy”. I never tire of sitting down and listening through this album. My all-time favorite is “Speed Racer”…

If you listen closely, you’ll hear very subtle changes in the beat, little sounds and accents but the song still remains clean and clear –you can distinctly make out every little thing! One of the interesting things that you can also hear in this song is the fact that some of the synth sounds are actually out of tune slightly. This adds a special sort of feel that I really don’t hear that often these days…

DEVO attempted to re-create the same production quality with their next album (being self-produced) Shout. There are distinct differences with this album (including the incorporation of a Fairlight CMI computer used in the song creation process) but what is missing is the clean production quality that Baker brought to the table. I will forever wonder what their next studio album would have been with Baker behind the production work…

I know that many bands have a sort of “bell curve” lifespan when it comes to the quality of albums. Oh, no! It’s DEVO is by far the peak of the curve for this band and well worth giving a close listen as it a model of production perfection when it comes to electronic music –and this was done before the advent of a computer in the studio!

To the right you can see a U-2 on display. Every morning one of these amazing birds takes off from the runway just a few short miles from where I live very early in the morning. I can hear it in the distance when I head out to work. When we used to live in Rosamond, sonic booms were a constant reminder of the fact that Edwards AFB was just a short drive away. Military aviation history is everywhere in this town!

The shot on the right I took at a local cell site. Behind me are the transmitters.

So, I’ll just come out and say it: I was completely depressed by the movie Sucker Punch. Don’t get me wrong, I love chicks with guns (or swords, knives, rocket launchers, etc). But I still feel the need to walk away from a movie and feel “entertained”. This means don’t remind me of how horrible people can be sometimes. Don’t remind me that the world can be a terrible place with no justice for the wicked. How could that possibly be worth my hard-earned entertainment money? I want to be dazzled, thrilled, and maybe even scared from time to time –but depressed? How is that fun to experience? Ok, so here’s the basic plot of the movie: a girl is being abused so she escapes to her mind to make up her own reality where she is actually strong and powerful –those escape scenes are just fantastic BTW. But the reality that we eventually return to is simply horrible –and all but one girl lives through it. I could have accepted one or maybe two dying but all but one?! I get emotionally connected with each of the characters and then get to watch them die. Yea, that’s entertainment for you!

Azumi was another example of a “Chicks with swords” movie that could have been an amazing few hours of entertainment but practically no one other than Azumi lives thorough it to the end. Hell, the opening moments of the movie have them pair off with their best friends and they are ordered to fight each other to the death. Oh yea, that gives me a real warm feeling inside…

By the time I get to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, I’m starting to think that maybe I should just avoid all movies with sword-wielding women at all costs! I think pretty much everyone I cared about in the movie is dead by the end. Still, this movie was rewarded with a pile of Academy Awards for it’s “artistic” vision. I guess “artsy films” are just supposed to be depressing?

Ah Quentin Tarantino, you just make me smile! Now here’s a man that knows how to put a sword in the hands of a woman, and make a revenge film that doesn’t involve killing all of the people that I care about. Kill Bill is proof that you can make a quality action / revenge movie with a sword-wielding chick as the protagonist and still have me walking away happy. Now there… was that so hard?!

Gas stations fuming about order to remove nozzle latches

So, if you haven’t noticed, there are no more hold-down latches on your gas pumps in California. At first, I thought it was just a problem with one station but I eventually experienced the same thing no matter where I drove. I eventually saw this label on the ATM station at my local AM/PM…

You see, there were a couple of incidents (13 to be precise) “to date” where out-of-warranty pump nozzles latches malfunctioned after being used in the field well beyond their designed lifespan and locked open. On top of that, the boot that normally ensures that there is a positive connection between the nozzle and your gas tank ALSO malfunctioned and managed to spray gasoline on the customer. Frankly, out of the massive amount of gas pumpers in the state, this has got to be nothing more than bad luck if you ask me.

With 34 million people in state, and most of them (let’s say 50%) own cars… Let’s say the average car owner pumps gas every week and a half…. That’s 589 million gas pumping operations a year. To say that “to date” there have been just over a dozen of these incidents (approx. 0.0000002% if my math is right). I hardly think this is a reasonable action to warrant such a burden on the people of California –especially since the gas stations were employing what the nozzle manufacturers would deem “faulty” equipment.

Still the California State Fire Marshal has decided to impose the burden of rectifying this questionable “problem” on us all. So now, weather its raining, bone-chillingly cold, you have arthritis, or simply want to wash your windows while at the pump, you’ll have to do it with the pump off and people waiting for your spot. Nice going Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover. You are officially an idiot and a burden on us all in my book. Yesterday night the outside temperature was well below freezing and I had to stand there in the 20 mph wind and hold the latch on the pump so you can feel like you did something good while at your post. Needless to say, I had some malicious thoughts going your way. You are a typical example of government worker being in a position of authority without consequences. I have little to no recourse against your actions, and even if I did, it still has no affect on you personally. I could sue the state and win and it would probably have no affect on your career or position. Not cool Fire Marshal Hoover.

The fact is that this “problem” is actually a result of mechanical failures and not that there was a hold-open latch on the nozzle. Nothing mechanical lasts forever (or at least we aren’t willing to pay for something that is). The incidents where these failures occurred involved pump nozzles that should have been replaced as they were simply worn out. The fact that TWO different safety features failed on the nozzle is indication enough for me. Both the hold-down latch failed to release after pumping was completed (probably a worn out spring), AND the “insertion interlock mechanism” failed to pop the hold-down latch when there is no contact and positive pressure between the gas tank face plate and the boot of the nozzle. Two mechanical failures that are both due to normal wear and tear. These nozzles simply should have been replaced on a regular schedule to prevent this sort of thing –the manufacturer has already attested to the fact that these incidents were all involving nozzles that were outside of their warranty period! So, instead of imposing the burden on the pump stations to ensure their equipment is in proper working order, the burden is on the millions of customers that must now stand in front of the nozzle, breathe the fumes, and hold the pump themselves. Shame on you Fire Marshal Hoover.

I’m just infatuated with these little HP LP2065 screens! Very bright, small frame, and hand hold slot at the top in the rear. As you can see, the frame flows well over the left side of my temporary desk. Not a problem for this setup! If I was still using the OEM monitor stands, this arrangement just wouldn’t have worked. I’m already starting to LOVE this frame!

From the back before wiring it up and lifting it to my temporary desk. In the future, I’ll probably need to use more than one person to lift this as it is quite heavy when fully assembled. The white wood base is also just a temporary thing. I’m either going to use a large 1/4″ aluminum plate or some MDF. I’d much rather use aluminum but it’s starting to get expensive!

Here you can see the angles involved in getting the screens to align properly. Now there are plenty of examples of pipe-based multi-monitor frame setups that are much simpler than this arrangement but they have no provision for adjusting the angles or distances in the event of a desire for a different viewing angle OR adding different size monitors in the future. I believe it was worth the trouble but I may also be totally wrong! Still, the exercise was worth doing.

Lastly, in this closeup, you can see why the center post needed to be offset and why the additional level is used. This design allows individual adjustments of both the angle of pitch as well as side-to-side. In the long run, this may not be necessary and I may wind-up with a much simpler design but at this point, Ive been quite happy with the result.

I have considered building a “hutch / monitor frame” design where I start with a shelf that runs overhead and then mount the monitors to the bottom of the shelf going down as opposed to starting from the desk and working up. I like the fact that it keeps all monitor hardware off the desk but it also prevents me from sliding the screens around to make adjustments or changes to the hookups. Still, I may explore this idea in the future… In the mean time, I’m really enjoying the newly added screen real estate for a relatively low cost!

So here’s my design concept to answer this problem. To allow the center monitor to be adjustable, it needs it’s own 2 X 90-degree elbow mount so that means that the center pillar will be slightly off-center. I then run the display further to the left on a connection ABOVE the center display. I’ve thought about this a while and see no other way to allow for independent adjustability. Naturally, I’m open to suggestions at this point!

So far, my shopping list looks like this:
14 x 90-degree elbow
3 x pipe flange
2 x cross-fitting (possibly larger core pipe size for main column)
11 x short nipple
1 x large nipple (joining the two cross fittings together)

I have yet to work out how the final base stand will look so I’m still working on that…

Persimmon Gauge’s blog post – one of the first articles I found online about DIY monitor stands
DrFish at the TechReport.com forum – first got me thinking of doing this entirely out of 3/4″ pipe
loki_racer at the HardForum – also helped getting the juices flowing
seven9st surfer at Overclock.net’s forum – he may have been one of the first to post a project like this

There are quite a few other projects out there that I’ve seen but these stand out to me as leading the way for my own project. –Also, let’s not forget that I’m not exactly unfamiliar with mounting monitors with 3/4″ pipe… My own post done a few years ago really got me comfortable with custom monitor mounts using galvanized pipe for this sort of work.

Next, let’s understand my personal situation: I presently work in the CAD Drafting / Design field where monitor real estate is king. The more space you have to work with, the more productive you can become. I have been slowly purchasing used 20″ LCD’s from eBay over the last year for this very project. I wanted to get the monitor stands off the desk so that I would have more space for papers, equipment, keyboard, etc. I also prefer non-widescreen displays as I get more screen space vertically. 1600×1200 is a must for a 20″ display. 1920×1200 for a 24″ display. I can get pretty good deals on these screens when you buy them without their original stands –and I’m not going to need them eventually so that works out fine for me! I’d like whatever stand I build to have a certain amount of adjustability as I hope to eventually graduate to 24″ screens (or at least add one or two) and sometimes I like to move the display around a bit for better viewing from different angles. This rules out some of the systems listed above that have not only a fixed spacing but a fixed angle. Ideally I’m looking for a DIY version of a monitor stand based on the design shown below…

With pivoting arms behind the monitor, I will be able to adjust the angle between each display as well as add wider displays in the future without another trip to the hardware store for a few longer pipe sections! I’m hoping to accomplish the pivot joints with a couple of elbows (an old plumber’s trick to create adjustability).

So, in this first article, I’m going to build the custom VESA mounts for my monitors. Since I’m going to be connecting to a 3/4″ pipe flange, it doesn’t do me any good to start with an existing VESA bracket as there isn’t one that would work so I head on down to my local scrap metal shop (National Metals and Surplus)  for a nice thick 1/4″ aluminum plate. I have to do it quickly because if I spend too much time at that place I’ll buy everything there!! Anyways, I lucked out with one of the HP LP2065 monitors I purchased this past year as it came with the metal adapter to mount it to their stock stand. It turned out to be the PERFECT template for building my custom VESA brackets!

Here you can see I’ve already cut and trimmed one of the four brackets I’m planning on building this time. I’ve already gone ahead and marked out the next three on the $6 aluminum plate I just grabbed from the scrap metal yard…

A little bit of time on the disk grinder smooths over the sharp edges and ensures my jagged cuts from the jigsaw are nice and straight. I then round off the corners –just because!

With the 4 mounting holes located from the template, I can draw an “X” and locate the 3/4″ pipe flange and mark their holes for drilling.

Now the drill press goes to work! I’d say what size drill bit I’m using but I just don’t think it matters too much. Size your hole to the fasteners you’re using yourself. I like to make the holes just a slight amount larger so that there is some play in the event that my holes aren’t exactly in the right place.

I countersink the mounting holes for the pipe flange as the fasteners will be behind the plate and directly against the monitor backing. This is why it’s important to use a nice think 1/4″ plate for this job. You’ll have plenty of material to work with when countersinking your holes. Sure, I could have gotten away with a thinner material but better to play it safe!

Here’s the countersink drill bit I use. It’s designed for aluminum so it makes the work MUCH easier to do. Many countersinking bits I’ve used that were designed to work with steel will clog with aluminum fragments. In a pinch, you can do this with a very large drill bit (I have) but you have to be very careful! I’ve had this bit for over 15 years now and I can’t possibly remember where I got it.

Now comes the mounting hardware. In my case, I’m using a nice phillips-head countersunk machine screw with a washer and locknut at the other end. I don’t think you need to use locknuts in most instances but I just happened to have this hardware from my previous automotive installation layout around so I figured I’d use it! Here you can see the head of the machine screw mounting flush against the aluminum plate.

Now with the pipe flange securely fastened, you can see why I needed to use washers. The pipe flange holes are also countersunk! I thought of cleaning up the aluminum plate but then realized that it will NEVER be seen so why bother!

Now mounted to my first 20″ monitor with button-head phillips screws. I managed to find a fairly wide head so I didn’t feel there was too much need for washers here. Note that the VESA standard for screw hardware on many monitors use a fine-threaded metric size. Make sure you take a sample with you when going to the hardware store for longer screws!

One display mounted and ready to go! I can’t wait to get the rest of them done and mounted!

Rinse, lather, repeat… More to come!!

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I managed to install a new intake manifold / air filter for my 2003 Mitsubishi Galant today. Not too shabby for $30 on eBay. I’ll never pay for another disposable air filter again! Although it mentions that there is no need for “extra parts”, I found myself in need of a few miscellaneous nuts and bolts –as well as the need for a custom bracket and tubing adapter. Although it included a standard aluminum strap that I’m guessing was intended to be some sort of bracket-like solution but it’s just not going to fly. I’ve placed the white towel (as you can see) just to hold things in place until I get a custom bracket fabricated up. To the right you can see that there is still a few inches of the black plastic original manifold in place. That’s because the diameter of the air sensor was too big to accommodate the smaller red rubber adapter that came in the kit. Lucky I’m still pretty handy with a saw!!

I have to admit I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time. I’ve wanted to get rid of disposable air filters, take back all the space that the original air box used up for no good reason, –and I also managed to solve the rough idle problem I’ve been having for some time now!

24 hrs later, not a single fruit fly in the house that wasn’t in that jar!! Simply amazing little trick that cost me nothing that I didn’t have laying around the house already. Thank you interwebs!!

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I figured it was time to call a professional. I called a friend of mine that works on International Harvesters named Isa (check out his website for more info). A quick check of the car revealed that there was a noise coming from the right wheel when it was the only one turning. That surely meant bearings. A quick check around town told me that a new assembly would cost me about $80 to order. I happen to own the factory manual in PDF for my car so I was able to quickly determine the part I needed… I also started checking around eBay for sources to see if I could save any money buying directly from Detroit (apparently all the vendors for these sort of things come from Detroit exclusively). As t turns out, it’s possible to purchase either the entire front hub assembly or just the bearings alone. I figured that if that was possible, the bearings should slide off of the hub without any problem…

Boy was I wrong! After pulling the front hub assembly, I spent the next 4 hours pounding and pounding to try and get the bearings off the hub! I was desperate because I now had my car parked diagonally in my driveway, jacked up, with a wheel and various parts removed and I just wasn’t willing to now order new parts! I guess it would have been smarter to spend the extra $10 to get the entire bearing assembly as opposed to the $30 bearings. Well, I was committed now and had to find a solution… I slept on it and started making calls in the morning and managed to find a machine shop in Lancaster called “AV Bumper-to-Bumper” that was more than willing to pull the old bearings and press in the new ones for a measly $40. If I had just done my homework before taking the car apart, I would have learned that no one does just the bearings! Oh well, chalk it up to a $40 learning experience! Here’s a few other lessons learned in this process…

1) YouTube is a fantastic resource for learning just about anything you want regarding working on your car. Here are the videos that got me through the process:

This little tip video showed me how to remove the hub nut without any straining at all! I happened to have all the necessary tools to pull this job off without a single hitch. Very ingenious trick but sure made my life much easier! I’ve pulled hub nuts in the past and they are a real pain without some very expensive air tools (or this tip).

Although this is a video meant for a domestic car,the principles are the same and some of their tips for loosening bolts around the bearing assembly really helped me not work so hard or improperly… Great video!

This guy is actually working a Mitsubishi so that was nice. In his example, he shows tapping the axle shaft back so you have access to the bolts behind the bearing assembly. That was invaluable to me! I was absolutely at a loss as to how to do this otherwise.

Lastly, this video was a good indicator of just what I was lucky enough to avoid! Had the bearing failed completely, I’m sure I would be replacing a LOT more parts than just the hub assembly!! I really dodged a bullet here…

One final note here worth mentioning is the value of owning good tools. Most of all my tools are brand-name quality like Snap-On or Craftsman. I heard it mentioned in these videos and have experienced for myself the value of good tools and the curse of using cheap tools. In this last exercise, I’d have to say that I put some of my socket tools and breaker bars to the test and had not one issue with them. I can also attest to previous experiences in the past where things didn’t turn out that well using cheaper products!

All in all, this was a good learning experience for me. I will say that next time I will be sure to check out all the YouTube videos I possibly can before even ordering any parts (and check out the discussion forums related to the project for additional tips). $40 isn’t a bad price to pay for my education this weekend!

The two DJ’s I’ve grown fond of are from a new trend in doing some rather creative remixing work involving either a mash-up of old tunes to make a completely new product as Osymyso does, or pulling the vocal track from one song and the instrumentation from another to create new material as is done by GoHomeProductions.

I first heard about Osymyso from one of my favorite radio shows, Crap From The Past. He mentioned one of the most amazing mixes I’ve listed to in a while: Intro-Inspection (you can listen to it on his Archive Page). He composed a 12 minute song completely out of introductions from other songs. The creativity and simple brilliance put into this mix is amazing!

Go Home Productions has a good 50 tracks on their website of their special formulation of vocals from one song and instrumentation from another. I’m literally re-experiencing the joy of listening to a song for the first time –but with tunes I grew up listening to!! This guy is a true genius at finding just the perfect match of elements from the most un-related genres!! He gained popularity (and caught my attention) from mixing a Jackon-5 tune with Nirvana’s Teen Spirit. Frankly, I much prefer some of his other tunes but it’s still not too bad…

Check out both DJ’s and enjoy!!

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Well I finally ran into a situation where I needed to implement the so-called “triple router Y-configuration”. There are several pages that talk about it but the one that I got the information from Steve Gibson and Leo Lapporte’s podcst of Security Now. You can find a transcript of the episode here. There is another page that describes it with a few good illustrations here.

The situation was one where a medical office needed to provide internet access for a workstation but with complete isolation from the current production network in place. The solution is either to lease a new DSL line just for this one machine, or find another way to isolate two networks and still share a single Internet connection. This is a much more economical solution! Normally, the Y-configuration is used in situations where someone needs to provide wireless access to devices that aren’t able to employ WPA encryption. The Nintendo DS is one example of a device that either uses open Wi-Fi or WEP encryption only. Many security-conscious network operators wanted to find a way to provide an economical dual-network setup with a guaranteed isolation between each network. As Steve Gibson so thoroughly explained, only a triple router Y-configuration will work.

The only aspect of this setup that turned out to be a problem was the fact that this office was using Windows Remote Desktop services which involved port forwarding. I tried a few possible solutions to keep that working but simply wasn’t able. Frankly, it was time to move past RDP and to a more secure solution so I’m not too upset about it!

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Another job I did for a church about a year ago. I just wish I had snapped a shot of the “before” condition! I added the plywood at the top, re-routed all the coax components to a more clean-running setup (and made room for the new parts). I cleaned up all the phone line cabling to the punch-down block and labeled all the current working phone lines, added a modem, router, and gigabit switch. I also installed 2 wireless access points around the building… This actually was a pretty fun job.

You may notice the additional network patch panel at the top right and the cable modem at the bottom right. This was to accommodate a charter school that was making use of our facilities temporarily. They’re no longer at this building but some of their parts are still in place.

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Just finished another home networking job for a client. Nothing too fancy but I did manage to clean up the “fire hazard” wiring that was running over the floor of their covered patio room (that occasionally would flood when it rained). Now all the equipment is tucked neatly away in a small cabinet at arm’s reach for easy access and maintenance if needed. I ran networking from here to 2 drops within the property as well as phone lines to the feed from the pole and another building on the site. Now all equipment is surge-protected and out of the way. Not too bad for a one-day job!

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When it came to the internal wiring, I decided to go in a different direction than what’s popular these days. Instead of hiding the wiring behind the motherboard tray, I thought I’d show it off instead! With the large amount of threaded holes throughout the case, I mounted wire harness clamps and employed careful use of smart cable paths. I still managed to run the cables for the motherboard USB / Audio connectors as well as the standard power / reset wires under the board as I just didn’t have enough cable length to do it any other way cleanly.

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Here you can see a close up of the SATA cable routing. I have put a drop of hot glue at each connection point as this machine will be shipped cross-country and I’ve experienced situations in the past where vibrations of the trip have shaken connections lose (it’s also a good justification for all the wire harness clamps I’ve used). By using both the on-board SATA controller for 4 of the connections and add-on cards for the remaining SATA drives, I got a decent variation in the SATA cable lengths that allowed me to correctly chose a drive bay that was an appropriate distance from the connection point so I had very little slack and no excess wiring anywhere.

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Lastly, here is a view of the small amount of cabling that did actually wind up behind the motherboard tray. As I was using a dual power supply system, I needed to have an ATX motherboard power connector splitter to allow the user to turn on both PSU’s at the same time. As it turned out, running one of the motherboard power cables behind the motherboard tray was the best solution. Notice the teflon tape used where the harness runs over a rather sharp edge…

Well now I’m mad I rushed to post the original recording a couple of days ago! This version has a few flat notes “fixed” and I added about 3 more tracks with a little bit of ornamental touches to the chorus. I’m really enjoying this process! It’s like having an entire band of guys that know exactly what you want to do (but can only do them one at a time). I’m definitely going to be doing more work like this in the future. I’ve always wanted to “accompany myself” as I’ve had arrangements in my head I’d like to lay down and see how they sound for real. So now I’m on the hunt for a more effective method of doing my multi-track recordings other than using my standard sound card and Audacity software. I’d truly like to be able to record vocals in a latency-free environment so I can hear not only what I sound like but how I sound against all the other tracks already recorded. Presently that is an impossibility. In the mean time, enjoy the new recording! I’m probably going to arrange the entire song to I can layer each of the 11 tracks little by little. I think it will sound nice! Also, I’m probably going to hook up my better microphone and find a way to digitally connect it to my system pretty soon as I’m sure I’ll get drastically better sound quality from that as opposed to my super-cheap headset microphone! Enjoy!

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Well it’s been somewhere around a week or so since these guys hatched (we can’t be sure). The mother is rarely around anymore. We’re assuming that she’s very busy gathering food for the kids. In fact, we don’t even see her at night anymore (not that she would fit on top of them anymore). It also looks like the kids have worn the nest down at the edges when compared to earlier shots…

So I’ve been working with Audacity for a few months now trying to make multi-track recordings of my own voice and finally figured out how to work around the latency problems. In any event, have a listen to this recording. I was trying to figure out both a tenor and alto part for our arrangement of Oh Lamb of God where we have a male singing the melody (at a lower register than normally done). After laying the initial 3 tracks, I thought it would be interesting to then add a bass part and then double-up each track to make it more full. What I’m left with is a “Male Chorus of One”!

If you’re interested, the way I got around the latency problem was to lay an initial track of just the melody. I then sang each other part accompanying that first melody track –including a new melody track. Once all the tracks were laid down, I muted the initial track that set the timing for all the others and there you go: a no-latency recording since all the tracks were done while accompanying the same initial track. I’m sure there are other solutions but considering the fact that this project required ZERO investment in hardware (I’m using free software and my old headset), I’d say it works pretty well

Enjoy!

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Well it took about twice as long as we had expected but after about 4 weeks the two hummingbird eggs finally hatched. Thanks again to my wonderfully 2″ taller wife, we got this magnificent shot of the nest and the two baby hummingbirds patiently waiting for mommy to return home with some food. We’re going to try and get some video of the feeding but I don’t know if we’ll actually have the time / patience to pull it off…

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Just for an idea of scale, this nest is about the size of a golf ball. Their beaks protruding from the top of the nest is barely noticeable unless you’re looking for it! Otherwise, it just looks like more material from the nest. We’ve noticed that the mother leaves for extended periods of time in the morning and then spends the afternoon and all night sitting on the nest. We’ll keep the pics coming as things progress!!

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So I guess it helps being 2 inches taller (as my wife is)… I managed to do a manual focus and exposure shot and had Candi hold the camera right over the nest while mama was out briefly. Looks like two eggs in a rather impressive nest of spider web material and what appears to be cotton! Looks pretty comfortable to me!!

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Well it’s been about a week since mama completed her nest and made a career out of keeping her eggs warm and tended for. I anticipate less than a week until they hatch. The nest has gotten larger and she now spends a great deal of time there holding on as the wind will toss this branch around a bit at times. I haven’t been able to verify if she’s using the feeder Mom and I installed last weekend but I do think that the level of fluid has gone down (and not by evaporation). Unfortunately, I haven’t been home that much this week to keep an eye on her and her activities to see if she’s actually using the feeder though (I sure hope she is). Here are some additional pics:

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Here’s a close-up shot of the nest from the other side. You can see how the choice of location is actually pretty typical of hummingbirds. They like to be out of the sun, high up so the shakes and rodents can’t reach them, and have some shelter from the rain and wind. Nice job mama! You can also see our feeder placed relatively close to her nest.

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This shot wasn’t that easy to take (let alone get in focus). I took the opportunity when mama was out to try and get a shot of the inside of the nest without disturbing the branch. I can see one large egg but the last time I looked (about 10 days ago) we saw what looked like 3 jellybean-sized eggs. I guess we’ll see when they hatch how many there actually were…

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So about a week ago we started noticing one of the branches of the tree in front of our house (the branch that actually makes it under the eave) was getting a new “addition”. It took about a week for her to build the complete next and lay her eggs. Another week and the nest was completely built. This photo is about the time when she laid her eggs. I think we’re about a week away from them hatching. Thanks Mom for bringing us a hummingbird feeder!! Now mamma’ doesn’t have to travel far to get some nutrients! I’ll be posting more pics soon!!

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So I’m remodeling my house. Yeah, I know it’s been several years –and it will probably be a few more before I’m done. Hell, I’m hoping to get it all done before I die at this point! But in the mean time, work has to get done so I’m now working out in the living room adjacent to Candi’s make-shift nail salon. I will say it’s nice to be working together (even if we’re working on totally different stuff at the same time…

This is my small rack where I house the power distribution, networking, and KVM switch (I can control up to 16 machines from this little baby). –click on the image for a larger view–

Here you can see the back of my workshop table. I fabricated umbilical cables to carry not only the KVM connections but also sound, power, and ethernet. You can also see the custom laptop mount I built out of a large piece of plexiglass to house a dedicated cooling system, AC power adapter, and outlet strip. Not bad for a few bucks at the hardware store! You may notice that the upper shelf is supported by two Dell XPS 700 chassis. I managed to acquire these systems as they had dead motherboards and managed to wake one up. I’ve found no other PC case quite like them! –click on the image for a larger view–

Here’s a closeup of the cabling behind the rack. I’ve done quite a bit both on the outside and inside of some of these components. I’ve had to re-wire the power strips to handle the special plugs. –click on the image for a larger view–

Still, I think there may be some value in showing some of the interesting things I discover in my journey through this technical and computer-based world and will share as much of that here as I can! Enjoy…

*** BEFORE ***

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*** AFTER ***

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I added color-coded lines to better see the different paths as well as indicated more informative call-outs. Anyways, I’ll be publishing my own guide shortly but I thought I’d toot my own horn first on this new diagram!

I started with a clean installation of XP SP3 on an Intel Core2 Duo system with 512 MB of RAM (shared with the on-board video system). All essential updates installed. Here’s a capture of the system in this state.

This next capture is after installing MSE, running a full system scan, rebooting, and waiting for all CPU activity to calm down for about 30 min. Note that the additional footprint for MSE is over 120MB. Considering the sparse amount of free memory in this system, this is a considerable hit to performance.

Here I closed the MSE processes and watched the change in system performance both before and after. This confirms that the 120 MB memory hit was a direct result of running MSE in the background.

This is after uninstaling MSE and rebooting. Strangely, I seemed to have managed to free up another 20 MB in memory somehow but I have no idea how…

Lastly, this is after installing NOD32 and performing the same full scan and letting all CPU activity calm down. It barely registers as a memory hit at all. I’m 40 MB above the system after uninstalling MSE -but I’m still about 20 MB from the original system configuration when I started this test.

CONCLUSION: First of all, I know that this is a VERY limited test. I have seen these results on 3 additional systems but I’m well aware of the fact that this can be a purely anecdotal test result. With that said, being a free Antivirus / Antimalware platform, if you have plenty of RAM and probably running either Vista or Windows7, I see no reason why not dedicate some of the system resources to MSE. But, if you’re still running older XP systems with limited amounts of RAM, I’d stick with the reasonably-priced, low-overhead of NOD32.

I’d love to hear any thoughts you have at this point…

So, for $10, I lost a full 30 years of maturity over a silly plastic light saber!!

Here’s another one I did based on some old pics of mine…

Enjoy!

I found this brief pictorial commentary to be quite thought provoking…
You can read the entire comic here –well worth the 2 minuets!!

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Vidia has been with us for a couple of years now (the fluffy one). Some crazy lady walked into my wife’s job last last years and asked if anyone wanted a kitten. Candi asked where the cat was and almost on queue the little bugger popped his head out from the lady’s purse… The rest, as they say, is history…

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These shots are on those rare moments when these two kids aren’t chasing each other around the house driving us mad!!

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I’m such a dork! I used to laugh at those little school girls that would go all crazy for the Jonas Brothers when they saw them –but I’m just the same way! I’m reminded of a great Intel Commercial when I ran into the opportunity to personally meet Steve Gibson of Gibson Research Corporation, the man who coined the term spyware and created the first anti-spyware program, creator of Spinrite and ShieldsUP while I was in Long Beach a few weeks ago. I knew that he had mentioned on his weekly Security Now podcast that he’s been doing most of his coding work while sitting in a Starbucks at UCIrvine. Well that was just a quick 20 min drive for me! Steve was most gracious to me and we talked for a short while as I tried to keep from jumping up and down shouting “I can’t believe I’m actually talking to THE Steve Gibson!!!” Anyways, thank you Steve for being so accessible and contributing so much of your time to the computer security industry.

Oddly enough, I’m not the only one with this attitude… SecureShirts.com even makes a nice black T-shirt that shares my sentiment…

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He’s also #66 in TechCult’s Top 100 Web Celebrities.

So once we exposed parts of the inner wall, we started taking note of the black mold inside the walls a little more than before…

So, time to cordon off the area…

Break out the HAZMAT suits…

And go to town!!

Some of the wonderful surprises that awaited us…

Vent pipes that were so large that they effectively cut away all the structural integrity of the wall they were inside of (we will be replacing them with PVC. The horizontal member is too low for code (must be at least 6″ above the tallest fixture –and it’s right at the level of the vanity sink…

The drywall throughout the bathroom was just regular gypsum and not “greenboard”. Also there was little to no sealing between the fiberglass tub and wallboard so there was mold on the inside of the seam all the way around –we will be replacing the drywall with mold and moisture resistant material…

The toilet mounting ring is nearly rusted away. We will be replacing it…

The rotted framing base looks like it started out as a 2×4 and they stuck a 2″ strip inside at some points. The entire wall will be replaced with new wood (and a pressure treated 2×6 for the frame base…

Nice wiring!! I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s tucked behind the counter top!!

Looks like we have a leak from the roof that has been soaking this wall for some time now. We will be taking out the insulation, tracking down the leak and fixing the roof where needed…

Not too bad for about a week’s work in the evenings!! It looks like the dead cat in our walls was God’s way of getting us to take care of the mold problem that has been brewing for many years now. We have managed to find two sources of water in this area: one from an abandoned swamp cooler water line, and the second from the leaking room at the opposite side of the wall. It’s been a real pain but we’re sure glad to be getting this taken care of. More to come as the work progresses!!

Last night I dreamed I died and that my life had been rearranged into some kind of theme park. And all my friends were walking up and down the boardwalk. And my dead Grandmother was selling cotton candy out of a little shack. And there was this big ferris wheel about a half mile out in the ocean, half in and half out of the water. And all my old boyfriends were on it -with their new girlfriends. And the boys were waving and shouting and the girls were saying, “Eeek.” Then they disappeared under the surface of the water and when they came up again they were laughing and gasping for breath…

In this dream I’m on a tightrope and I’m tipping back and forth trying to keep my balance. And below me are all my relatives and if I fall I’ll crush them…

This long thin line. This song line. This shout. The only thing that binds me to the turning world below and to all the people and noise and sounds and shouts. This tightrope made of sound. This long thin line made of my own blood…

Remember me is all I ask. And if remembered be a task, forget me. Remember me is all I ask. And if remembered be a task, forget me. This long thin line. This long thin line. This long thin line. This tightrope. Remember me is all I ask. And if remembered be a task forget me. This long thin line. This long thin line. This long thin line. This tightrope made of sound.

I managed to dig up this old shot after a friend of mine reminded me of it. The shot was taken by a fellow Tae Kwon Do student who was also a photographer. I wish I had known it would have turned out to be such a good shot or I would have tried not to look like my face was about to explode (and probably would have taken my practice pads off). Oh well, at least I have a visual reminder of what I looked like 90 pounds lighter and wearing a black belt! With all that’s changing in my life recently, maybe I’ll get back into martial arts again…

I’ve used a couple different laptops in my car for the last few years but they always had their problems. First of all, most of the displays were fairly dim (considering I only installed USED laptops as they were going to get a lot of abuse sitting in my car -and the risk of being stolen). I’d say the most expensive laptop I’ve installed cost me $250. Anyways, besides the dim screen that made it a little hard to see during the day while wearing sunglasses, I had to deal with the screen waving back and forth if I drove over any bumps or dirt roads…

So I mounted a 15″ desktop display a few months ago and LOVED it! The brightness of even the lowball Dell display was quite easy to see. The only problem now was the fact that the keyboard was no longer sitting right where my had was -now it was sitting in the passenger seat and soon was going UNDER the seat. I needed a touchscreen! So for the next 3-4 months, I watched and lurked eBay for just the right deal… And here it is:

Here’s a YouTube video of it in operation.

I have distant plans to install a dedicated carputer from mp3car.com but my budget is just not there right now.

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Well the kittens have been almost 1 week away from “Kujo Mama” and seem to be warming up to humans (which is a relief to us all). They spend a majority of the day in their cage but come out at least twice daily to romp around the living room, harass our other two cats, and play with us and whoever seems to be around. Some are more affectionate that others but that is to be expected. We still haven’t decided which ones (or how many) we’ll keep.

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The two black polydactyl kittens are even more interesting now that we’ve also found out that their back paws also have an unusual amount of toes. One has 4 and the other has 5!! Just amazing.

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One more week and we’ll be getting the mother fixed and released shortly afterward (once she’s healed). Then we’ll be getting our lives back to some sort of normalcy (such as it is)…

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Well the process of taking the 4 kittens from “Kujo Mama” went off yesterday without a hitch. She’s been crying off and on through the night but that’s to be expected. Now that we were able to get a good look at the two black kittens, we finally able to confirm that they do indeed have 6 front toes!! Here’s some more pics for your own amazement…

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Yup, it’s a fully-functional extra toe –just like their dad it seems. We’re still trying to get a pic of him but he’s “in the wild” so don’t hold your breath…

Here’s the last video we shot of the kittens with mama…

And here’s the smaller of the two black kittens getting a little nursing…

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From left to right: Motorola 120e, Motorola V557, Blackberry 8100 Pearl, Blackberry 8300 Curve.

I have heard that the old 120e actually had a GPS capability on it. Simply amazing. I will admit that I can’t possibly imagine going back to a phone that doesn’t have a full-sized keyboard anymore. I got the Pearl just because I wanted a phone with good voice recognition and worked well with Outlook. But that’s just to get you hooked on “push email”. Once you’re used to it, the full-sized Curve is the only way to go! The shear volume of work I can get done while sitting on the toilet just blows my mind! I never need directions to someone’s house, just an address and my phone will get me there. How did I live without it for so long?! My curve is actually the first phone that has forced me to change my wardrobe. I no longer wear shirts without a pocket. I refuse to wear it on my belt! Anyways, I thought some of you would find this photo interesting…

Thanks to my mom’s ample supply of cat-ready antibiotic medicine, we’re getting the mother cat as healthy as she can be while she’s here with us. I only hope she calms down a little after getting more food in her belly!

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Looks cute… But my wife and I slowly realized that they couldn’t stay there –and we weren’t about to let them lose on the neighborhood since there are already a good population of strays out there, we didn’t feel good about adding another 5 to the mix. I figured we have another spare room in less of a state of disrepair (but still a work in progress) that we could keep them in with safety until the kittens are grown enough to find homes for them…

“Do you think I should get some gloves?” I asked my wife…

Scratch and bite marks on the left hand.

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Minor scratches on left bottom of left forearm.

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Bite marks on left wrist.

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Bite and scratches on right hand.

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Deep scratches on right forearm bottom.

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Deep scratch on right outside forearm.

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…Somehow I don’t see her getting house broken!

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I’ve been slowly getting my life together lately with special thanks to David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” audio book. I have to say, after using Franklin-Covey for so many years, I had no idea how much I was missing! Anyways, while getting my home office up and productive again, I decided to buy a nice stapler and thought the “Office Space” stapler would be an interesting office prop… $20 dollars later from eBay, here it is!

Holy cow is this thing heavy! At my “day-job” office, we have a bunch of old office products and one of the staplers we all fight over is this Swingline “747″ model. Its all metal and just feels solid when using. Well, as it turns out, the red Swingline in Office Space IS a model 747…

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I had no idea such a simple thing could make me so happy! Now I understand the significance of Milton’s stapler in the movie at an entirely new level!!

Some of the larger pieces made taking them to the hardware store for replacements a real “breeze”.

Here’s what the back of the roof looked like in the morning.

…And $20 in shingles and roof nails later (and a little elbow grease) I’m back to new! Thank God my dad was a contractor!

I’d really like to increase the pitch of the roof and add tile but I just don’t think I’m ready for that serious of a job (at least while still living there).

I’m currently using an old IBM Thinkpad with a 12″ screen but I’ve got a newer Dell 14″ that will soon be installed. Bigger screen with better color visibility in sunlight is a good thing!

My bolts on the plexi were a little too long but no one will know!

Here’s where it hooks into the floor. I’ll probably grab a carpet remnant from the local auto parts store to do a better cover up soon.

Here’s the secret to my “over engineering”. I have mounted the pipe flange directly on the metal of the unit body where most of the other installations I’ve seen sat on top of the carpet and insulation. This made for a wiggly mounting! I also upgraded the flange to 1″ pipe size so that I’d have a larger mounting surface. Believe me, this mount is solid!

Legally, I’m not too sure how I’ll stand up. I know that it’s illeal to watch movies in the front seat while driving but I’m actually using GPS software most of the time. I also know that you can’t mount GPS deviced in the windshield because of the risk of obstructing the drivers’ view. Well this mount keeps the laptop out of the way of the windshield so I should be ok but I’m not going to run around asking the highway patrol what they think!

Overall, I think I spent about $30 but I’ve got some spare plexi and pipe for the next mount I’m going to do.

Check it out for yourself!!

In the mean time, Here’s a download of the song “Turquoise” that first got my attention!

I also would point a lot of you to MP3 Sugar for decent MP3 downloads. The prices are amazingly cheap and the quality has been fantastic (fairly high bitrates). The site is Russian and has dubious legal standing but I’ve been nothing but happy with them for the past 8 months. I managed to find the album “Nude” from VAST on their website but no others. Still, not a bad catch for $1.50!!

Well that means GARDEN HOSE!!

More pictures are below if you care to see how it went down…

Here’s where the problem started. 1/2″ copper pipe that broke below the concrete. Since it is the cold water line, that means that the feed to the hot water line is also cut off.

Here’s where I start. The feed from the main currently runs under the slab and emerges in the middle of the house right in this corner. From there, the pipes run underground again and go to the bathrooms, kitchen, hot water heater, and washing machine.

This is what I turned it into! Custom-fab’d garden hose. The kid at the hardware store told me it was “easy” to make these ternimations. HE LIED! My hands were so sore the next morning I couldn’t make a fist. The were all swolen too. Uhhhh…

Running over the back door…

Heading into the hot water heater…

Over the hot water heater and on to the washing machine…

…and finally into the washing machine!

Here’s the hot water heater “Before”

Here’s the “After”

All in all, it’s been working flawlessly for about 4 days now. I’m fairly sure it will last the rest of the winter.

Configuration#2

Time to get serious! The SBC-Yahoo device is the small white box at the top. It was a “SOHO” router, wireless access point, and modem combined in a single box. Slick! I thought this was time to re-locate my network equipment in the hallway (where we’re doing a little bit of construction as I’m sure you can see) along with our cordless phone. I also got around to adding an UPS to the system to keep things going in a power outage.

Configuration#3

I quickly found out that running a cordless phone base station right next to my wireless access point is a really BAD idea! Every time the phone rang, the wireless network went down! So… Out with the phone.

Configuration#4

Well that SOHO “all-in-wonder” box managed to last just one month before it started crashing nearly every hour. We got SBC to send us a replacement unit that did the exact same thing so it seems like the problem was somewhere else (or so I thought). I got rid of the SOHO router / wireless / modem unit and went back to the original modem and tried to use the wireless router as my main router. This lasted about a week!

Configuration#5

So I returned the wireless router to just “wireless access point status” and bring my old SMC router back into the mix. This seemed to work for a little while but I still would have to reboot the router about once every 24 hrs.

Configuration#6

Finally a working solution!! (well sort of) As it turns out, the real problem was the fact that I am running a BitTorrent client on a nearly 24-7 basis and that sort of traffic just brings home-based routers to their knees (as I have been finding out). The solution is either to purchase an “enterprise-class” router, or build a Linux-based router out of an old PC. I chose the latter. I snagged up a distro of Smoothwall Express and managed to get it up and running in less than 4 hrs (including building up the donor PC). I have to say, it has been nearly 10 years since the last time I installed a Linux system. Boy have things come a long way! The only problem now was that I had a quite powerful router now connected to a wireless router that had its router abilities disabled. Sadly, the wireless functioning worked terribly now and the real need was to get a true wireless access point device. Off to eBay…

Configuration#7 – FINAL

Replaced the wireless router with a Netgear gigabit 5-port gigabit switch and a Linksys wireless access point. I probably spent about $70 for both items thanks to eBay. I couldn’t be happier with the configuration. My throughput is just amazing. BitTorrent downloads that would have taken 2-3 days to complete were now going through in a single evening! The wireless works better than ever too.

Here’s some of what I feed in my office / workshop with this present configuration:

A 16-port KVM switch that is soon to be nearly completely populated with working computers for the business I’m working on.

All I have to say is Kraftwerk is ‘da bomb! I downloaded what I think is a bootleg video recording of a live concert taken from London in 2004. I am just amazed. I mean, I grew up listening to these guys (and they seemed to grow up too) but they still have it. All they did was stand there in the center of the stage and make amazing music. You could hear the crowd just going crazy. All they needed were some keyboards and laptops on the stage. 2 hours straight they played!

This little baby (model WA-0018) first caught my attention since it has both an altimeter and a digital compass. Why in the world I would ever need such instruments I may never know but the watch sure looked cool and I DO always like to be “prepared”. But the problem with this watch is that it is missing the one reason I purchased the watch I now have: “atomic” timekeeping. So I thought I’d check out the latest from my old friends at Casio…

The new Pathfinder PAW1200 was just what the doctor ordered! Not only does it have the same features as my current watch, they are even better! The solar panel is larger and charges more quickly and lasts longer wihout sunlight. The receiver for the atomic clock signal is more powerful and picks it up more easily. But those crazy guys at Casio have also added the digital compass and altimeter to this watch! What a country!! Who would ever think of cramming so many features into a simple timepiece? Without the continual greed of large companies like Casio, why would they ever concieve of such a watch? I love it. Only now I have to start saving up again…

And what the hell is wrong with Healthnet?! They were great when I had to spend 2 weeks in the hospital earlier this year. That was a $100K bill I didn’t have to pay! But now I’m just going out of my mind. [the sorted details are to follow...]

I first have to visit my general doctor (who is only approved to dole out either prescription drugs or x-rays). So I’m first sent off for a round of x-rays. That is an amazing process since I have to drive now into town for the x-rays at a different hospital. Since I can’t sit or stand in the waiting room, they had to get me a stretcher so I could lay in the hallway and get laughed at by all the people walking by. I was hoping to take the x-rays with me back to the doctor but, as it turns out, the process works like this: the x-rays are developed by radiology and then walked over to some sort of “x-ray analyst” that reviews the images and sends the findings back to my general doctor. Evidently, this takes about 3 days to process. In the mean time, I’m losing about $200/day not getting paid -and not getting any real treatment for my condition. Now I am allowed to return to my doctor where he reads off the findings from the x-rays and tells me that there is nothing out of the normal showing which means I get to visit some other sort of specialist now…

So the transfer goes something like this: I am refered to a specialist (an orthopedic doctor) who first send the paperwork back since it didn’t have any x-ray shots in them. After the refereal was re-sent, my name gets put into a computer that takes 24 hrs. to process for some reason before I can actually make an appointment. Now I’m finally set with my new doctor for January 10th! I’ve sent complaints to Healthnet as I’m not able to sit, walk, drive, work, or fuck for that matter and now have to wait another 3 weeks before I get to be refered yet again for another appointment with probably an MRI shot. Now I understand that they just can’t go around requesting MRI’s for anything under the sun but do they actually understand that they’re basically denying me “treatment” for what will probably be 2 months because of their “processing”? Hell, I’ll be lucky to have a job at all to be able to afford the $400/month for their so-called “coverage”. I’m looking hard to find a quick solution to this problem but I’m considering driving by the CEO of Helthnet and having myself a little “chat” (ok maybe I’ll just send them a bunch of emails). I’m sure I’m going to be finding another health insurance company after this little affair… God help me.

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Since I feel the best when laying on my stomach, I now live, eat, sleep, work, and play in the living room. I have to thank my wife who has been sleeping in the living room with me this whole time. She’s a real trooper. Although it feels like I’m getting better but I won’t know until the MRI get’s done and looked at by a specialist. At this rate, I fully expect to have all my lower back problems solved by the time my kids graduate college! So in the mean time I’m stuck in the living room on my belly for the time being…

Date sixty-eight or Date 68 is a colloquial term of folk etymology, describing a social situation which that may refer to a type of one-night stand, hotel pick-up, female domination or even male prostitution. It’s also linked to a particular urban legend called Foreigner Date-Trick that surfaced during the late 1990s boom in American economy. Since the story allegedly originated in New England, it’s also sometimes called New England First Date.

The Name
The colloquial term 68 is derived from the name of the famous 69 sex position, 68 being 69-1, describing a situation when only one of the participants is actually performing. Date 68 is used in conjunction with a date ending with one party (typically male) performing oral sex on another with no reciprocation.

Another related term – DATY (dining at the Y) – is used by female prostitutes, predominantly in the San Francisco Bay area, to describe a fairly new type of sexual service – cunnilingus for money.

The story
Foreigner Date-Trick is a story, circulating in the corporate world since late 1990s boom, when a flow of foreign specialists was rapidly imported in the US to cover the significant shortage of skilled labor force. It’s possibly based on a real event, is more known in the corporate circles, and have come down to very few variations in New England (New England First Date), DC and New York, due to the specific ending making up the whole story.

Story generally depicts a foreign corporate employee, fresh off the boat, and in the middle of the worst culture shock. Foreigner is quoted to be from either Middle East, India or Eastern (due to specific culture clash). Plunged into the restrictive litigious world of corporate America, the foreign employee is being educated by his office colleagues on the horrors and spoils of American lifestyle. He is introduced to the weekend BBQs, plays darts and pool, pays a first visit to a strip-club in his life, and then gets lectured on the complexity of American dating scene. Eventually, he is encouraged to ask a pretty female bartender out, who is made aware of his complete lack of knowledge about local lifestyle as well as his vague understanding of rules of common behavior in general.

The legend says that during the date the girl goes through a series of rigorous instructions on American dating ritual and bosses the eager-to-learn foreign guy for several hours. In the end of the night, when he is about to bow out, she tricks him to believe that in America, the first date always ends with a true gentleman showing homage to his date by providing unconditional oral sex. The foreigner, coming from parts of the world where it’s not customary even in marital relationships, is so overloaded with information by that time, that he reluctantly does as instructed to the sheer amusement of his date. His date later turns out to be in a separate relationship, using Date 68 only for her entertainment. The foreigner, in his own part, becomes a subject of numerous jokes, linked to the incident, and quits over embarrassment.

In another version, the story gets known when the foreign guy asked a question about his first date on a dating message board, causing silent ovation there.

It’s unclear what the hidden moral of the story is, which leads many to believe that it did indeed happen, later becoming a part of the happy hour culture.

Oddly enough, the legend of Foreigner Date-trick is practically unknown in the West Coast, partially due to a more feminist society in Pacific states, which strips the story of its embarrassing undertones. San Francisco may be an exception to that, being a well-known site for large conventions. The concept was allegedly imported in the city by traveling women on business from out of state (hotel culture). This is not to be confused with male prostitution and usually refers to a one-night stand.

Double Date 68
A more radical Date 68 version known to exist in Manhattan is called Double Date 68, or DD68. It has a loose relation to female domination, but usually describes a pick-up of a typically drunk male by two females, one of whom then engages him in a standard Date 68, while the second one penetrates him with a strap-on dildo. DD68′s idea is generally the same as with the Date 68 – one party (female) is entertained at the expense of another party. It’s unlikely to exist in macho societies in Europe (except France and the UK), Australia, and South America, where both subjects of DD68 are sometimes perceived as social taboos.

Here you see the scene where the Friar is talking with the children about the wonders of plants or something… I think it’s funny that you can see that the kids are actually looking at his tattoo and not paying attention to him!

Now I will still admit it’s a bit large but it’s NOWHERE near as large as I remembered it!

Still, this movie does have some redeeming qualities to it. There is one of the most touching and well-shot “love at first sight” scenes I’ve ever run over…

Claire Danes has never looked so beautiful! Shot through the aquarium with all it’s low light and brilliant color was just genius.

The scene pulls back only slightly to show them both looking at each other with their reflection showing well in the glass…

Then the camera slowly moves to the other side of the aquarium -no trick cut shots here- and shows the exact same thing from the other side! From a cinematography standpoint, I can’t imagine the difficulty in lighting alone this must have caused. Still, the shot is one of those “movie moments” that I will always remember fondly, even if the friar’s tattoo is a bit small for my taste!

I recently went on a quest to find out what happened to this guy since I would have loved to hear more from him. As it turns out, he now produces for a lot of current hip-hop artists. I was disappointed about this until realizing that he simply had said all he wanted to in music so there was no need to add more. I can respect that. If you are even remotely interested in rap, hip-hop, or modern jazz, I would strongly recommend this album.

Candi wanted to name her “Tinkerbell” but I didn’t like a BLACK cat with that name so we decided on “Vidia” after one of the new Disney Fairies…

Story goes that the mother was a stray that had a litter and then vanished. We don’t know if a coyote got her or what but it looks like most of her litter didn’t survive without her. A friend of ours found this little one just as their dog did. The dog grabed her and gave her a real good shake before being rescued. We saw right away that there were at least some broken bones in one of her front legs and one of her rear legs. A trip to the vet confirmed this. She had two fractures on her front right leg and two fractures on her rear left leg. It looks like the fractures were really due to malnutrition more than anything else. All we could do for her was to keep her in a cage so she can’t move around while the bones heal –and heal they did! Now she’s running all over the house!

Here she is when we were still feeding her kitten formula.

One of her first baths. She was really filthy from living “out of doors”!

The “kitten burrito” treatment while she dries.

And now all healthy! She doubled in weight in just the first 2 weeks we had her. She didn’t even weight 1 pound at first.

Well now I’m fully recovered from BOTH bad physical episodes and I’m overjoyed. I have been back to playing racquetball 3 times a week now and it feels fantastic. I’m finally doing something about my health and I am just amazed at the rapid transformation I am experiencing. From a completely sedentary lifestyle, to being totally immobile for weeks at an end, to be able to play sports again is simply amazing. I only pray that the circumstances in my life continue as they are so that I can keep this up.

My lava lamp collection is growing! I’ve added a rear-view mirror and a sweet back-scratcher thanks to Pampered Chef stuff that my wife likes for the kitchen. After catching me using her’s several times, she got me my own! It’s also nice to have my entire music collection with me at my side through the work day.

My good old friend is happy as can possibly be. He is the only cat in the house these days and I’m pretty sure he likes it that way. When he’s totally at peace and comfortable with his surroundings, he’ll lay on his back like this. He’s actually been with me longer than my wife! He’s been everything from the only cat in the house to one of 10 at times! Weasel (his name) has some pretty strange habits though. He like the smell of my breath right after I wake up in the morning. He’ll run up to my face and sniff my mouth as close as possible. He doesn’t like it after I’ve brushed my teeth though (nasty huh?). He also MUST have someone walk him to his food bowl in the kitchen. He won’t just stroll over there himself. He’ll even stop eating to look back and make sure you’re still there. If not, he’ll go and find you to complain. Weasel won’t drink out of a water bowl or anything -he has to have his water straight from the faucet. If anyone is going to the bathroom, he’ll run in with you and whine until you turn on the faucet so he can drink from the trickle that comes out. He likes to catch birds our mice and bring them into the house to show me. After he knows I’ve seen it, he’ll take it into the bathroom to eat it completely -bones and all! What a strange fellow! But he’s my boy.

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Mom sneaked a couple of pics while I was in the I.C.U. a couple weeks ago. I think this was the Monday after my Friday surgery. I had no idea there was that much equipment keeping me going! Some of the other shots show how my feet and hands were very swollen. One of the nurses remarked to my wife that she could actually see the fluids draining from my body as the swollen ares would slowly shrink (thanks in part to the excellent choice of drugs they used).

I’ve got some “before and after” closeup shots of the hemorrhages in my eyes for those of you interested here…

04/07

04/22

I’ve been slowly feeling better and better each day. I’m coughing less too (that’s making me quite pleased). I’m thinking of starting an exercise program this Monday but we’ll see just how well I do when I get started. All I know is that I lost 15 lbs while in the hospital and it feels pretty good. I plan on losing quite a bit more so I’m looking at this as a “kick-start” for my weight loss. I’ve already started eating smaller portions and less “junk food” so all I need to do now is get moving! Wish me all luck…

I know a lot of you are wondering where I’ve been on this page for almost a year. I’ve been very busy -but that’s all changed. I thought I’d save a lot of you the time of another long phone call by just posting what happened to me over the past 3 weeks here. I’ll be posting some pics of me at the hospital as they come in. Not that many were taken but I think my mom sneaked in a couple while no one was looking. so, here goes…

About 3 weeks ago I got sick. I thought it was just food poisoning; I couldn’t keep anything down for about 2 days. But after a little while, it all cleared up -and then I was craving oranges like crazy! Most people believe that this was when my appendix ruptured.

I felt fine for the next 2 weeks. Then I thought I came down with the same thing: food poisoning. Ok, so this time it was Taco Bell instead of Subway like 2 weeks before. 2 days go by and I find myself on Friday morning shaking from the cold and having a hard time breathing. So Candi orders my sister-in-law (a nurse) to take my tail to the E.R. at once! My sister already was pretty sure I had appendicitis but I wasn’t that sure. I laugh thinking back to the E.R. when I was laying on a gurney listening to the doctor talk with a sick lady next to me. He was saying something to the affect of, “Take to of these and I’ll see you tomorrow no later than 6. You’ll be just fine.” I started saying to myself, “Yea, that’s gonna’ be me!” But when the doctor came in to see me, he took one look, poked me in the side, and said, “Buddy, you have appendicitis!” Even then, my attitude was simply, “Ok, fix it!” But shortly after they started preparing me for the necessary surgery, my body went into shock -right there in the O.R. I got cold like there was nothing they could do to warm me up. They were piling on hot blankets but it was doing nothing. I felt like I just couldn’t breathe -like I was drowning. The next think I remember was waking up in the ICU 4 days later!

The seriousness of this I didn’t understand until much later. Simply put, were I not sitting in the O.R. of a hospital when my body went into shock, I probably would have died. There just wouldn’t have been enough time to transport me and diagnose the problem before it was too late. Thank god for my wife and sister taking care of me when I was unwilling!

So the final score was an appendicitis condition that was complicated with pneumonia to make things interesting. I had laparoscopic surgery to remove my appendix and clean me out. I spent about 5 days in the ICU and another 3 days in a regular hospital room recovering and taking tests. Most of the time I can’t really remember when happened to me -especially in the ICU. I can say that if we talked then, I probably don’t remember it. I had no idea so many people in my church work at that hospital though! Terry Fiske, you were a real ray of sunshine to me in an absolutely horrible time for me in the ICU -thanks for being there.

I’m a little afraid to start thanking everyone as I’m sure I’ll miss someone but I’m going to try anyways. First of all, I want to thank everyone that prayed for my recovery. There is no doubt it made all the difference in the world. I want to thank my family for being there every day for me helping me out and keeping me on the road to recovery. I want to thank my sister for getting me to the right place at the right time. I want to thank my wife for being strong and supportive for me through what must have been the most difficult week in her life. I want to thank my Mom for being there for me and keeping my step-sister in Holland up to date with everything. I want to thank my Mother-in-law for making me the best homecoming dinner I’ve ever had! Thank you, Mark Edwards, for coming over yesterday and mowing my lawn. And thank everyone who called, visited, or emailed. Some of you I haven’t talked with in a very long time and I’m grateful we got to say hello.

Now if you’re wondering what’s up with the weird pic at the top, that’s what my eyes look like after that much vomiting. The condition is known as a subconjunctival hemorrhage. It looks terrible (or cool if you like) but has absolutely no affect on my vision. I’ve been just telling people that half of me has gone to the dark side!

So now I’m at home -with a new lease on life. I still feel incredibly weak and get short of breath easily. My arms are very sore and I guess that was from fighting the restraints while in the ICU. I kept trying to pull the tubes out of my mouth so they had to tie me down. I have had very little pain from the surgery and eat normally now. I do plan on changing the way I eat and exercise though. I’ve already lost about 15 lbs from spending the week in the hospital but I’m definitely going to make some major changes in my families lifestyle. I’m probably going to be home for the next work week so if some of you want to drop by and visit, please feel free but call first to make sure I’m up and around.

I have discovered my first grey chest hairs –and 3 of ‘em to boot!! I was pretty proud of the “white walls” on my head for a couple of years now but this is just awesome! I think I grew in my wisdom the very moment I first saw these 3 hairs…

Scissor Sisters – [self-titled album] (released 2004)

What a surprise this album was! I was asked to check it out because “it had a lot of Elton John-sounding tunes”. Boy was he wrong! Yes, there is ONE song that does resemble him a little but that’s it. Instead, I’d have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer variety of tunes. Now mind you, most of the music here I would only describe as “the music you play during a show at a gay bar”. Still, I love it. Very much well produced, full of variety, and gobbs of style. A little of Robbie Williams here and there too. Their remix of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” is awesome. I actually heard that track last year somewhere on the radio and it sure did make me stand up and take notice. Definitely a joy to listen to.

Keane – Hopes and Fears (released 2004)

Where was I last year?! This is another smash that I seemed to have missed in it’s entirety. Mind you most of the decent tracks didn’t start getting airtime until early this year. There’s a strong similarity to Coldplay but only in style and use of a piano instead of a guitar as the lead. I’d lean this band more to Radiohead than Coldplay though -mainly due to the vocals. Very dreamy and airy. “Everybody’s Changing” is still my favorite but the rest of the album is fantastic too. No “one hit wonder” here!!

Jet – Get Born (released 2003)

From what I’ve read, this band has received a lot of flak for being “copy cats of the old retro bands”. Yes, it’s true that they sound a lot like ACDC, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, etc. They dress like they’re still in the 70′s (horror of horror!). What are people smoking these days??!! EVERYONE is dressing like the 70′s now!! All bands copy their styles from other bands. Is it not original? It is decent, simple rock. Nothing more, nothing less. I’ll admit I was slow to look them up -mainly due to radio stations playing out their single “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”. By the time iPod decided to use that song for their TV ads, I was staring to HATE the song (not that it’s that bad or anything, I just was getting sick of hearing it). Well the rest of the album isn’t really that different. Sure “Look What You’ve Done” sounds a lot like the Beatles. Who hasn’t? Even Ozzy Osbourne has a song in homage to their old style. What’s so wrong with that?! In summary, not a very deep album but a sure rocker worth lending a ear.

This is truly an album that has to be listened to with good headphones without any distractions. The meticulous construction of the tracks, amazingly deep lyrics, and overall production is just out of this world. Case in point, the last track, “Right Where It Belongs” starts out un-noticeably in rather low fidelity sound and volume. Slowly over the length of the song, the volume and sound quality improves and expands. By the end, there is a live audience in the background and such a power it’s hard to describe. Truly amazing to hear in headphones.

Also of note is the use of some rather “antique” electronic musical instruments and drum machines. I suppose that’s why I appreciate NIN so much -there’s no need to use the most advanced equipment to make a good sound. You can still make some cool things with even the oldest of instruments! The song “Only” attests to that. The drum line sounds like it comes straight off a cheap Casio keyboard drum track, then a bass guitar comes in, some cool deep synth sounds, etc. Little by little, the song becomes a massive mixture of sounds and tracks -and it still works.

Check out some shots of his studio (found on nin.com):

I actually first came to know Gorillaz from the 3D animation business. Some of their first music videos were done using a fairly new software platform that runs over top of Lightwave (a professional 3D animation program that has been used in the movie business for quite a long time). Then their music just grew on me like flesh-eating bacteria!!!

Now I’ve got to start investigating N.E.R.D. …

I guess my only complaint about the album is the cover art! What happened to THIS Clarkson?

She looked so plain, wholesom, and happy. Why get all made up and what not? I don’t find that attractive at all. Oh well, who listens to me in Hollywood?

In other news, I have come to the realization that I am a “codependent”. I never really thought I was but recent events and actions I have taken have revealed this trait in my character. Reading about it I have learned just how prevalent codependency is in Christianity. I’m discovering a lot and entering a whole new world in my view!

Well for now, I think all I’m going to be able to do is some music reviews (coming in the next few entries).

Just some of the awesome help I had unloading all the gear this past Sunday afternoon (after sleeping in to recover from the previous days’ loading -done alone).

Some of the many industrial-class computer pieces I snatched. The top 3 racks are chocked full of modems (the remnants of a FAXing service tel-com company). The bottom 2 cases are power conditioners.

Enterprise Sun server. I don’t know the condition of the insides (I’m guessing it’s been gutted), but there are still 3 hot-swap power supplies on the back (that weigh a ton).

Here’s the jackpot of ‘em all!! Nearly 30 rackmount chassis with the original power supplies. The 5U cases (the slightly taller ones) have dual redundant power supplies that hot-swap from the front. Each case weighs about 50 lbs. so I’m pretty sore right now! All of these cases used single-board-computers (SBC’s) and a passive backplane which means that a standard motherboard will not be easily dropped in (but not impossible either). I may get a simple ATX motherboard tray and bolt it in the back but I’m still undecided. Many of the SBC’s still have their P-II and P-III processors so I’m expecting to revive several of these guys for my own purposes!

More fun with my samurai swords!

I want to thank all of you that helped out this past Sunday. I never would have made it through without it and it means a lot to me that on short notice you guys all made the effort to help out an aging old brother that got WAAAAY in over his head thinking I could move all this stuff on my own!

Enjoy!

- The husband isn’t in it for the money since he’s already turned down $6 million for her custody. That means that his interest in her death is either out of his desire to carry out her claimed wishes made to him in the past. The only other reasonable explanation for his actions would be to conceal some mis-deeds that may be revealed if she somehow recovers (which is a stretch in my opinion).

Beyond that, all I’ve heard can be contradicted by someone else so I give up and frankly I’m a little tired of it all. One station spent the entire morning taking calls from people just to express their feelings. What?! I don’t make the effort to listen to talk radio for common people’s opinions. I want to hear from the experts, the informed, the distinguished. If I wanted “the man on the street” opinion, I’d GO to the street (or watch my local news stations -they’re always full of useless opinions like that). Is our country going to hell in a hand basket? Sure it is. But Terri’s story isn’t even close to the core -nor will it edify anything anymore. The arguments are pointless and the opinions make no difference. Please stop talking about it. I want to hear about something else now.

Well fist of all, these are YOUR soldiers? Who are they? What are you fighting for? Peace?

He laid on his back,
His firearms by his side
Hearin no sound
Just watchin the fireworks in the sky
I walk by
Look down he still smiling
Cause he’s done fightin
A fallen soldier
Now his war’s over
Don’t matter which side is wrong or right
Some innocent lives will be lost on the battlefield tonight

…And the truth comes out up front! If you die, it doesn’t matter which side is wrong or right? What does that mean? I think he’s saying that NOTHING is worth dying for. Nothing is so important that we should march our nation’s youth into battle. It’s only ignorance of history that get’s us people that say things like “what’s war ever solved?”. Innocent lives are always lost in battle. That’s why war is hell. Warriors will tell you that.

So hungry to kill
Only his death can curb his appetite
Live ammo hit the flesh
And it feels so right
I’ve embellished my life
Now God please tell me is this what death’s like?

What? Who’s hungry to kill? The soldier that just died? I think that’s what he’s saying. I’ve come to the conclusion that much of the liberal left (like this rapper) believe this statement -that only being killed can stop his appetite for killing. They believe that Bush is “evil incarnate”. I don’t subscribe to that belief. I don’t think he’s that wonderful either but come on people! It’s sad to realize that this is what many Americans believe: that the conservative right, republicans, and the military are evil and blood-thirsty.

kept his innocence
Heavy hearted spouse
Clingin on to anything intimate
She can find around the house

Yes, we all know it’s sad that men die and leave wives at home alone. Thank you for pointing it out. I’m sure we all are better now. What isn’t pointed out is that this man just died for his country -died for the continued safety of his fellow Americans…Like this rapper!

What’s the difference between Bush and Saddam?
Sheik Ahmed Yassin, Osama Bin Laden Fidel Castro
It seems to me they on the same team
They hate only lead to innocent blood streams

Oh boy! Here we go…
Well, for starters, Bush was elected…TWICE. Bush will leave office after a maximum of 8 years and be replaced with another elected leader. Bush allows people to criticize him -even out in the open at the capital. Bush is openly criticized on most all major news networks without any problem. Bush has had a feature film made exclusively about how evil he is -and the movie was rewarded with much revenue and awards. Try doing that in Cuba or Iraq of the past! Exactly what does Bush hate? I’ve heard conservative AM talk shows labeled “The Church of Hate” by the left. What is it that we hate so much? The left?

If it’s so important
To fight for mankind
Well I don’t see none of they kinfolk
Out there on the front line.

And you don’t think starting a war as president isn’t putting yourself out there? Don’t you think he was fully aware of the negative publicity he’d receive? Why do you think we funded and supported Sadaam in the first place? The US government initiated much of Sadaam’s raise to power (as well as many other dictators around the world) for this very reason!! A lot of Americans just don’t like war -plain and simple. So it’s much easier to just “influence” people to fight our wars for us -that way no president looks like a “war monger”. Much of the problems in the Middle East were approached from this direction for nearly the last 30 years. Only the result was a man like Sadaam, OBL, and the like. This president, for all his flaws -and there are many, decided to change the cycle and take care of business the only way it should have been handled so many years ago but was too afraid -and this rapper thinks he’s not putting himself on the line?

And sure there are rich families that manage to wiggle their way out of serving their country. I’m sure this rapper isn’t interested in defending his country either. In fact, he went the opposite and did a tour called Beats For Peace Tour. What a crock. That’s his solution: “do nothing -’cause there is no problem! Just take out OBL in Afghanistan and we’re done. Leave Sadaam alone. He’s not hurting anyone important to us.”

And I’m a soldier
Right here – hip-hop – with my guns by my side
Ready to ride till I die
And I’m a soldier
And you can see it in my eyes
Even when the man dies
They say a soldier never cries
And I’m a soldier
Until the day they take my life
All my soldiers march with me
Left, Right
All my soldiers match with me
Left, Right
I thought I told ya
This is the story of a soldia
Stand up x 3
Stand up x3

Well, you’re definitely a soldier for the anti-Bush campaign. But other than that, you’re just a “soldier wanna-be”.

US stand up
UK stand up
France stand up
Spain and Portugal, Germany stand up
Slovakia stand up
China stand up
Palestine, Kosovo, Ghetto World stand up
This is a live nigga PSA
From the one and only ghetto bullhorn
Come to warn you
There’s a war goin on outside
And you can’t run
You can’t hide

Tell me about it! I wish I could hide but you’re all over the place!!