More pics of my kid.

Less than 5 minutes old on the weighing table, he gripped my finger quite hard just after I took this shot. I’m pretty sure that means he is going to be a genius.

My ferocious goddess and her titan offspring.

The first time Grandparents. This is the first time my FiL has ever held a newborn. He only held his kids after they were a month old. He claims he was afraid that he would drop them, I think he was afraid of getting puked on.

He’s got the correct position with his picking hand, his fretting hand needs some work.

As per suggestions from many friends, the day we came home I read The Sneetches to Cole. He fell sound asleep before I finished the first page, but I finished reading it to him anyway while my wife softly cried next to me.Thanks for everyone’s kind words and suggestions, I’m going to try a catch a quick nap.

I’m a Dad!

Meet Cole my newborn son; 8 pounds 9 ounces, 22 inches tall.  He and his Mom got pretty beat up while he was on his way out, but they are both doing great now. 

Salt Lake Tribune Wets Pants

In today’s STAFF EDITORIAL the Salt Lake Tribune argues that Open Carry of firearms is a bad idea for the following reasons:

 

1. Open Carry is not specifically called out as legal therefore Open Carry is a gray area legally.
2. Due to the law requiring that the gun be two mechanical actions away from firing, Open Carry is therefore of dubious value.
3. Open Carry is dangerous because the police or criminals may shoot you.
4. Open Carry may frighten the public.
5. Open Carry only makes sense for hunters.

Sleeping is not called out as specifically legal, does that make it a gray area legally? No, that, by definition makes it legal. The reason Open Carry is not specifically prohibited is because such a prohibition would be unconstitutional. The law requiring a gun to be two mechanical actions away from firing is a fairly recent local development and I would argue an infringement of the Second Amendment. Roll back this useless law and the utility is restored to the firearm as well as the “shall not be infringed” clause. Additionally, not having a firearm at all is of far, far less utility than a firearm two actions away from firing.

Criminals do not carry openly so the police can breathe easy and somehow refrain from shooting anyone with a gun on their hip. Training and education for the police and the public seems to work well for Concealed Carry, why would Open Carry be any different? The worry should be for the criminal who has a concealed weapon and no regard for the law.

As far as frightening the public:  Utahn’s are built of sterner stuff, I am confident that a gun in a holster in a “compromised state of utility” as mentioned earlier, poses little threat. The fear may come from ignorance, but the cure for ignorance is education, not acquiescence. Additionally, is the need for public safety now so high that the potential of “scaring” someone is grounds for restricting the Second Amendment? Especially since crime statistics do not support this irrational fear.

The point of open carry has nothing at all to do with hunting and I suspect that the majority of Utahn’s can find the intestinal fortitude to deal with the free exercise of the Second Amendment. This editorial along with its companion “news” piece published the day previous strikes me as clumsy apprentice journalism. Perhaps Second Amendment articles / editorials are an initiation ritual for young green journalists?

The Bill of Rights is a complex topic that deserves a considered and professional treatment, not off-hand ill-considered sensationalism. I find it contradictory for a newspaper, a medium that lives and dies by a broad interpretation of the First Amendment, to be so eager to narrow the interpretation of the Second Amendment. How disappointing.

Mojo Philter Demo Songs

Go HERE to hear.

The above link leads to a rough live demo of two of our songs that we recorded last night (11/15/07). One is called Triple X and the other is Disaster Ever After. No vocals as of yet; retro-futuristic funky and rockin’ all at the same time.

Tonight’s The Night

We (Mojo Philter) are going to record our rough demo tonight. It is going to be a simple capture of a practice so we aren’t going to win any Grammies. I’m not expecting much, but hopefully one or two songs sound good enough to post here for scrutiny and ridicule. I have the capability to rack up my entire studio and take it down to the practice space, but that is overkill for the purposes of this demo. I’ll just put up a couple of mics, use the Lexicon Omega, and my MacBook Pro to capture a stereo submix off of the mixer. If we like what we hear then we’ll start getting ready for a full-on recording session for my label; Cypher Records.

I haven’t mentioned my other musical project yet; The Flat Earth. This project is a solo thing at the moment, but I’d like to get a band together someday. For The Flat Earth I play the Chapman Stick as well as a bunch of other instruments. The Flat Earth is a lot more experimental than Mojo Philter but just as much fun. It gives me a chance to get some crazy music out of my head and into yours. It is also another outlet for my photography and haiku hobbies. Speaking of the Stick, I produced and released a cool Stick player compilation CD a few years back that is still available; The Stickwire 2002 Compilation. It has a bunch of Stickists from all over the world on it, including The Flat Earth.

The above is a pic I took of Bob Culbertson at the Stickfest in Ann Arbor.

BTW, I’ve never used so many links in one post in my life.

California Microstamping

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step…”
–Lao Tzu

California recently passed a law that all firearms manufactured after a certain date will be required to include the technology to microstamp an identifying mark on each case fired. Nevermind that the technology has yet to be shown viable, nevermind that the millions of guns in California do not sport this “feature,” nevermind that the technology is easily defeated, and nevermind that criminals will simply use stolen guns and/or guns that don’t microstamp.

This vaporware technology is already owned and patented and it would have to be licensed by any gun manufacturer that imports to California. There is a bit of talk going around about the impact (or lack thereof) of a single firearms manufacturer boycotting California as a result of this muddle-headed legislation. Barrett already boycotts California, and now STI has joined them. Whether or not boycotts of California by smaller companies will have any appreciable impact, or whether or not these companies had any volume sales is beside the point. Principled stands often seem like useless gestures, especially to those who no longer have principles. I will support STI’s principled stand with my wallet.

I am Spartacus.

www.stiguns.com

Bug Killah / Elephant Eater

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

We are in the middle of hardcore de-bugging mode at B.A.D. We have a little extra built-in time this cycle for some usability and aesthetic changes. So in addition to helping kill bugs, I get to try to have the coders add some long-desired enhancements. I’m going to keep the ratio of submitted bugs 10:1. 1 enhancement request for every 10 real bugs, otherwise the coders will start to ignore me if they think I’m just shooting for a s’hload of enhancements.

During this time in a software development cycle you have to be careful who you talk to about a bug. If you submit a serious bug to a coder, he says “sure man, add it to the database and I’ll get to it.” If you discuss a bug with your boss, it turns into meetings and additional assigned tasks, and the bug may or may not be related to any of these meetings and/or tasks. In other words: If it is crunch time, bottom-up task resolution works much better than top-down. I could make all kinds of political and relationship analogies at this point but that would be gilding the lily.

Ouch!

I have totally screwed-up my neck. We had a strong windstorm a few weeks ago and I just barely got around to replacing some light fixtures that got damaged. While I was at it I figured that I might as well replace the ancient flourescent fixture in the laundry room. As I was installing the frame, one end popped-off the screw that I had temporarily holding it to the ceiling. I caught it with my the side of my head and used my head to lift and hold it to the ceiling while I installed the rest of the lag bolts, no big deal right?

Apparently it was a big deal. I woke up this morning and I couldn’t even move my head. I’ve been in bed alternating hot and cold packs all day long. At least it gave me time to shop for baby clothes. We are only a month away from D-Day (Delivery-Day) and I’m starting to get excited. There are some cool baby duds out there and I want ‘em.

Belated Manhattan Trip Report

Okay, I’ve been procrastinating on my Manhattan trip report because I’ve been trying to process how I feel. I think I’ve got a handle on it now. It has taken me a few visits there, but I have enough data to state that I just don’t like Manhattan. It is oppressive, stinky, crowded, humid, expensive, and unfriendly. I became more and more of a jerk the longer I stayed. You have to become a jerk to just get by; I imagine you’d have to become a massive douche to succeed.

I asked quite a few people how they can take the buildings leaning over you day in and day out. They said that they can always escape to Central Park. So I checked out Central Park in hopes of finding some peace and surcease. Instead, I found it depressing. It was just as stinky, crowded etc as the rest of Manhattan just in an incongruent setting with manufactured “nature” and artificial “waterways.” I would rate its ambiance on par with our local homeless park: Pioneer Park, but with a stronger more pervasive fecal odor that you can actually taste.

 

At Central Park I sat on a rock by what was probably meant to be a tranquil pond by a walkway bridge. The dead duck floating in the stagnant gray-brown water littered with cigarette butts and the constant stream of people everywhere may have masked the tranquility somewhat. I tried to take a few pictures of the bridge and pond, but I realized that a more beautiful setting was waiting for me at home. I can literally drive 10-20 minutes in any direction in Salt Lake City and find natural beauty. I have been all over the West and I know that this is the norm everywhere except Central Nevada. Sorry Battle Mountain, you too Ely.

Alright, enough of that.

I ate at some great restaurants like Koi and Freeman’s. Freeman’s deserves special mention because of its location down an alley in the Bowery on the Lower East Side. No signs, no address, located a few hundred feet down an alley. The food was spectacular and the décor was straight out of David Lynch movie; taxidermy everywhere, distressed wood and exposed plumbing.

Listening to the new Lexicon PCM 96 at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was also able to check out the legendary Manny’s Music and Sam Ash music stores.

Finally, another memorable experience was trying to flag a cab by the Javits Center amid a crush of people, torrent of honking cars, tall blank buildings, threatening rain; a lone butterfly floated down through the man-made glass and steel valley and landed on the only flower in a cement pot full of weeds.

Photos From Manhattan Trip

<—  That’s Les-Freakin’ Paul!

Practice Redux

Practice again last night, much better. We were all in sync and the tempos we worked out for each song seemed to be dead-on. I’m certain we can step to the next level, we had some good non-verbal communication going on. There are a few things that still need some scrutiny; some rough changes, a couple muffed cues, etc. but nothing that cannot be fixed. If I can do my part recording the demo then we are going to have some stuff that I wouldn’t feel bad about pre-releasing.

On a related note (pun), we dig what we are doing, but it is always interesting to see the first reaction on the listeners part. You never know how your stuff is going to be recieved and you can get some pretty funny comments.

I’m also working up a more detailed report on my New York trip that’ll be up in a day or two.

Mojo Demo

Back home and ready to rock.

Now that my traveling will taper off for a few months it is time to get the ball rolling on the band. I want to get a rough demo together so that I can fit lyrics and melodies to our existing music. Especially since “the kid” is only a month away. I figure that my time and energy will be pretty limited for a while and I don’t want the band’s progress to halt.

We had practice last night and we were a little rough since it has been weeks since our last rehearsal. If we can get our schedules to mesh and get a regular weekly practice instead of these random sporadic evenings, we will be able to crank it out. Despite a rocky start we warmed up and it was sounding great. Atom is getting his keyboard rig figured out and he’s getting some sick sounds. It now consists of a re-finished Roland Rhodes (orange Tolex and orange sparkle paint!) being used a MIDI controller for Logic8, Korg CX3, Moog Little Phatty w/additional remote MIDI controller. His Moog solo on the song Failure had us all in stitches.

The demo will be just a couple of mics put up for a rough capture of practice for us to critique and to help me write, but if any of the recordings sound decent I may make them available on our MySpace page.

But don’t hold your breath.

Beretta Gallery, Manhattan

I visited the Beretta Gallery in NYC today and apparently there are two stores in the same building. One that is welcoming and one that is not. The gallery itself is a gorgeous storefront in a great location just off Central Park East. I was impressed with the clothing section but went immediately upstairs because that is where they have the guns.

Upstairs is a fantastic selection of Beretta shotguns, unusual to find in anti-gun Manhattan. The salesman and the resident gunsmith were soon laughing at my jokes and making some back. I told them that some of my online friends would be surprised that such a store existed in the heart of Manhattan and I asked if I could take a picture or two. The gunsmith said “sure man” so I took a couple of shots. I made my way slowly back downstairs admiring the high-quality guns and accessories along the way.

Once I made it downstairs I moved to the front of the store to get a nice wide shot of the showroom but before I could get the shot a security guard stopped me and sternly said “no photos!” I politely asked him why not and he was clearly unprepared for that question because he stammered out some disjointed b.s. about company policy. So I changed the question to; “why is it company policy to not allow photos of the clothing section?” He had no answer to that so I continued; “I have some online friends who would be interested in the shop and it is a real shame that Beretta company policy prevents that. He replied “It is Beretta Corp. company policy.” “Okay” I said and turned my camera off and put it in my camera bag and snapped the clasp.

I then went back upstairs and looked around the hunting supplies and after a few minutes looking at the books I turned around and the security guard was at the bottom of the stairs watching me. I moved over to the jackets and he moved to the front of the store so he could watch me through the railing. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable I then moved to the knives and the security guard changed his vantage point to see me better. After a moment I moved back to where the boots are and the security guard moved away from the front of the store and I felt a little better. I picked out a book on Beretta history and a really cool Beretta multi-tool (you can’t have too many multi-tools) and went back downstairs to the register. To my surprise the guard and the saleswoman at the register were watching me on the security monitor.

Trying not to be angry I paid for my book and multi-tool and left. Now I understand that Manhattan has its problems and the people there aren’t always hospitable but, in a store that is supposed to be a “rendevous for people who enjoy hunting, life outdoors and good living, and a place where special events can be celebrated—Ugo Gussalli Beretta,” I felt particularly unwelcome. What happens when the people “celebrating a special event” want to take photos?

I was even wearing a pair of Beretta brush pants and a linen shirt at the time, it isn’t as if I looked like a hoodlum.

Dear Beretta: I wish I could have spent more time and money at your gallery, but I didn’t feel welcome.

Bought For a String of Beads?

Just arrived in Manhattan, dropped off the bags and went straight to an Irish pub for some grub. Since Manhattan is well, Manhattan; there is always too much to do and not enough time to do it. So I haven’t made any plans, I’m just going to let shit happen. That is what I did the last time I was here and it worked out pretty okay. I don’t remember half of it, but I’m told I had a good time. I have a ton of work to do tomorrow so I’m going to try and go to bed early.

Sodden blanket hangs

draped over light, spire, and cube

cars jostle like bugs

Halo 3 and Xbox 360

Started and finished playing Halo 3 over the weekend and I have a few thoughts and comments.

My wife and I waited to buy an Xbox 360 until we felt that the real good games had come out. Otherwise, it is difficult to justify the expense. So Gears of War came out and we were intrigued, okay this looks promising.

Yet we waited.

Then Bioshock was released and we both watched pre-views and scenes on various websites and were impressed.

Yet we waited.

Then Halo 3 was released and we could wait no more.

Ironically, despite it being the tipping point and as fun as Halo 3 was/is, the earlier games: Gears of War, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion & Bioshock are far better games. Halo 3 offered little new in game play, and nothing new graphically. I enjoyed Halo 3, but I’ve been more viscerally engaged by Bioshock than I ever was by Halo.

I’m going to be in New York for the next 10 days and I’m going to regret not being able to play Bioshock. I’ve never felt that way about a game. That is a little weird for me.