zeropointDigital

Random strange thought

2006-05-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

You know how your recorded voice being played back to you sound so different than it does in your own head? Do you ever wonder what other people sound like to themselves? Do you think Gilbert Gottfried sounds that annoying to himself? How do impressionists know if they sound like someone? Does the person that they are impersonating think they got it right?

Sometimes I think about stuff like this...

Now you can, too.

Uganda Follow up

2006-05-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

A little more info on the Uganda orphanage situation. We had diner last week with the couple that has founded the orphanage. They are having the first two housing structures and kitchen area built as we speak over there. They are also are having a well dug on the land. Obviously, the hope is that they will have freshwater, but it is entirely possible that they will have saltwater and need filtration systems installed.

They were looking to have us go to Uganda with them in late August/early September in anticipation of those first housing units being finished. We would then head over and help with getting things set up. They are looking for Rachel to help with organization (her mutant ability - little hyped for XMen opening this weekend?) and I would help with minor building (without electricity, my mutant ability of spending too much time online will go to waste).

There in lies the problem. In my mind, that is much too quickly for us to turn around and get everything together to get over there. Shots, planning, raising $4 to $5k. There is a lot to get figured out. What we have decided is that Rachel will help with planning and getting donations here and we will start looking at the idea of heading over sometime around the end of Q1 2007.

Once again, our plans may fall apart but we need to have something to shoot for...

Into Africa

2006-05-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

There is a couple from our church that has started an orphanage in Rakai, Uganda to house young children who have lost both parents due to AIDS. They have ten acres of land on a hill and are currently working to build the orphanage and get infrastructure set up for themselves.

Rachel, who coordinates 1000 kids and teachers a week in Sunday School classes at our church, meet with a woman who is involved with the orphanage about how she can help mobilize our kids and their families to get involved an help out. We are always looking for a way to get the kids involved and to get them to think on a global scale. To try to reinforce the idea that they are extraordinarily blessed in America and they should do what they can to help others. This seemed like a perfect way to do that.

The evening after their meeting, Rachel had a voicemail from this woman. She said that she was very impressed with the organization and passion that Rachel has for kids and this kind of work and wanted to know if we would be interested in helping her lead a team of people over to Uganda to help get some work done over there.

We are meeting with her and her husband tonight to discuss the details and find out what they have in mind, but our minds are kind of spinning at the idea. It is both exciting and a bit frightening, but we are very interested in finding out more details and seeing if this is a way that we can compassionately help people in need in Africa. Obviously, this would be a short term (week or two) opportunity but this is not the kind of the thing that we could get involved in and then walk away from.

Interesting anyway and weighing on my mind. Thoughts?

Catching up

2006-05-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

A quick rundown of things that mean nothing, but since nothing is what you have been reading on this blog, you should be used to it.

Mission: Impossible III - See it.
Alias - Good again...just in time to go off the air.
Lost - If you aren't watching this, you suck.
The Office - See Lost comment.
Nintendo Wii - Dumb name. Awesome anyway.
Planning trip to Europe - Overwhelming.
Learning to speak basic Italian - Surprisingly fun.
Paying $450 to fly to Fargo - Stupid.
$20 of free cash deposited into my Party Poker account - Sweet.
XBox Live Arcade (Pac Man, Galaga, STREET FIGHTER!) - Can't wait.
Uno on Live Arcade - surprisingly entertaining.
4.25% interest on my savings account - money.
Dog, The Bounty Hunter - rocks.

I'm sure I could sit here and think of a thousand other things to list here, but that is all for now.

How long will she live?

2006-03-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to hear a woman like this speak and realize that she is the "crazy" one in the Middle East. To see that guy simply dismiss her as a heretic for not being religious. There is too much of that attitude across all religions, but unfortunately she is dealing with the one that instead of screaming her down, would rather crop off her head. I hope that she lives long enough to keep influencing the people that are watching Al Jazeera.

Windows Media Video Link

MG Update

2006-02-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

My 1979 MGB
Originally uploaded by slightlydope.

It's amazing what a good, solid push and the pop of a clutch can do for a 70's era car.

On Thursday, I decided that it was time to get the MGB home. The battery was completely dead and even a half hour charging session did nothing to help that. I put about two gallons of gas in the tank (which may or may not actually be empty as the gauge doesn't read anything) and gave it a swift push across the parking lot. A smooth release of the clutch in third gear roared it life almost immediately.

Sounds great and it was. Getting a car for free leads to all sorts of bad thoughts about how bad the situation really is. Needless to say, when it actually started and drove around the parking lot, I was pretty stoked.

So it starts. Great. How does it run? Not so great. Seems to be only firing on two cylinders (hoping a simple set of new plugs and wires will fix that) and it has a nice blue tinted puff of smoke that accompanies each take off from a stop. That one is most likely a piston ring, I guess. Either way, it ran well enough to drive it home with the top down for the 12 miles or so it took me to get it in the garage.

So far I have pulled the air intake set up and the carb off of it and intend to give them a quick once over before I put them back on. I also pulled out the center console and under dash console which were pretty much trashed. Then I pulled the drivers side carpet which led to a nice rusty surprise.

So rusty in fact, I was able to stick a screwdriver right through the floor board and see the ground. I guess that needs to be replaced. The good news is that seems to be the only MAJOR rust damage and that can be easily fixed.

I can't wait to get this thing running well and out on the road!

My 1979 MGB

2006-02-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

My 1979 MGB
Originally uploaded by slightlydope.

I have a new toy. Someone donated a 1979 MGB roadster to the church as a write off at the end of the year. They finally dropped it off last week and an e-mail was sent out to see if anyone was interested in it. I put myself on the list of interested parties.

After a week of people looking at it and no one making an offer on it, our paster of administration asked me if I was still interested. And I was, as long as I didn't have to pay over $500 for it. I ended up paying a lot less than that when he gave it to me as long as I was willing to take it off his hands.

The battery is dead and it is out of gas so I don't even know if it runs. The guy who donated it said that it did but obviously I can't validate that claim until I can charge the battery and get some fuel in it.

I figure worst case, I can put a grand into it and get it running well and have a super fun, Arizona cruising car.

I love it.

Superbowl letdown

2006-02-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Rachel and I spent the last two months planning and preparing for a Superbowl party that was hosted at our house yesterday. I have now come to realize that there is no better way to have a semi-lame party than to tie it to a overhyped football game.

Not that the party was that lame, but the football game really kind of sucked the life out of it. Sure, it could have been the fact that the game itself was one of the most boring I have ever seen. Or that I really couldn't have cared less which team won. Something about getting together for a game that everyone then kind of feels obligated to watch in itself isn't that fun. Four hours of John Madden yapping in my ear, isn't that fun.

So, when did the fun start? After the game when Guitar Hero was busted out and the laughs began.

So what did I learn from this.

1. Parties need to be much more free flow.

2. Scheduling a party around a bloated game that no one cares about but everyone feels they should be watching isn't the best idea in the world.

3. Guitar Hero rocks and might be able to bring peace to the world if we can just figure out how to get the Palestinians and the Israelis together for some blazing head-to-head guitar battles.

Electronic Dreams

2006-01-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

I'm heading out on the road this morning driving from Phoenix to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. My friend and I are working on our home automation business and need so ideas for things like security systems, motorized blinds, video switchers, ect.

unfortunately his mother-in-law died this week of liver cancer so he had to bow out. Fortunately, Rachel is ready to go so we are making a weekend out of it and still will be able to get all the business at hand taken care of.

Look out, Las Vegas, here we come!

Cat in the super-sized, braniac Hat

2006-01-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, I will admit to being one of those cat haters. I never want a cat. I find them a bit useless and the fact that they jump on kitchen counters makes me crazy. I am a dog guy. I will always be a dog guy.

...but cats just jumped up in a BIG way for me when I read this story.

Cat dials 911

States I've visted...or at least drove through.

2005-12-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

From AngryChad...

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Looks like I need to get working on the Northwest and the east.

Green Tea and Ham: Redux

2005-12-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

As if I needed to prove my point in regard to green tea...

Proven!

Christmas traditions

2005-12-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are heading into our sixth Christmas as a married couple and we have had the, sometimes unusual, situation of having no immediate family here in Arizona with us. We have really relished the ability for us to form our own family unit and develop our own sense of being, but with that comes the fact that all family traditions are out the window...or at least are up for debate.

We have been in a fluid state of motion over the past six Christmases trying to nail down what our family Christmas tradition is going to look like. It has developed into spending the entire day in our pajamas and ordering pizza. This year, it is mutating to "build your own pizza" and making gingerbread houses.

Anyone else out there been wrestling with starting their own holiday traditions?

Green Tea and Ham

2005-12-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have recently discovered the joys of tea. I have been drinking four to five cups of green tea a day for the last few days and love it. Between this and countless bottles of water, I am so hydrated I am soggy. And it's GREAT for you.

I ordered this to get a taste of some green tea options.

Apathetic and Pathetic

2005-12-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

Politics. I used to be such a political firebrand. I was a raging right winger who was willing to go to the mattresses debating any and all topics. I would usually be engrossed in the arguments and feel the need to have a strong opinion on every issue and then be prepared to defend them to the death.

Now...eh, not so much. I would like to think there are a number of contributing factors. Age is one of the major issues. I think I have simply mellowed out in my (oh so old, twenty eight years) life. I have realized that there is a lot of things that are important to me and although I am still interested the happenings of the world and politics in general, I just don't care anywhere as much as I used to.

The next factor? Cynicism. I have become a cynic when it comes to politics. Seeing that the middle of America (generally speaking, not geographically) is the direction politicians have to shoot for and that these people for the most part are completely ignorant of politics or the world at general, it makes me crazy. I understand that these people's votes are needed to win. And I understand that in order to get them involved you have to aim low and talk lower, but, as, what I would like to think of as an informed voter, it drives me nuts.

The result of all of that is a loss of idealism. I have my ideals and what I think the world should look like and when I first started getting into politics I was on fire with the idea that I could change the world. That I was part of something that was making a difference. Now I realize that I'm not making a difference at all in the ways I want the world to change. As a conservative (more than a Republican) I have a very limited government view of the world, but as I look at the current political landscape, I don't see much action for that viewpoint.

It all sounds like the same crap to me almost all the time. Whether from the left or the right, I don't buy it and it seems I don't really care...and by the looks of this blog, this isn't the only topic I am apathetic about.

The Great Outdoors

2005-10-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

The last two weekends have been filled with outdoor activities, which can only really mean one thing...

...SUMMER IS OVER!!!

I know, it's a little strange, seeing as most parts of the country count the days down until May rolls around and then drop a tear or two once Labor Day finds them and takes fun and sun for the next six months. Of course, I live in backwardsville (aka southern Arizona), where October means two things. Cursing baseball playoffs interrupting my favorite tv shows for three weeks (come back to me Prison Break! Don't forget about be Arrested Development!) and temperatures under 100 for the first time in five months. It's a beautiful thing my friends, a beautiful thing.

Two week ago, some friends of ours invited us to go jetskiing with them at the lovely Canyon Lake. They, being in their late 40s, have had the time to build up the toy farm. They have two Honda jetskis that happen to be the fastest ones they make. It's pretty hard not to have fun flying through a canyon at 60 miles an hour on the water. Of course, there also isn't much that can tighten up the ol' butt cheeks faster than hitting some waves at sixty miles an hour and having your brain screaming at you, "You are going to DIE, you IDIOT! SLOW down!" But, do I listen to something as trivial as my brain? Not likely...

Last Saturday, Rachel and I decided that it was time for a day trip and we headed north from Phoenix to Payson, Arizona, up in the mountains. We have the pleasure of having an intense natural wonder in northern Arizona called the Mogollon Rim. It is essentially a shear cliff that cuts diagonally across the southwest from Northwest Arizona down into southwest New Mexico. This is a huge cliff stretching hundreds of miles. The land below the cliff is anywhere from 2000 to 3000 feet below the cliff line above and makes for an incredible view.

We drove up to Canyon Woods Lake on top of the rim and hiked the 5.5 mile trail around the lake. It was gorgeous. I felt at one with nature. I need to do this kind of thing more often.

That anonymous blogger finally gets his comeuppance

2005-10-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

With ten posts a day on his blog, you would think the infamous anonymous blogger would get a chance to mention that he was embroiled in a heated court battle. Maybe he was just waiting for the win to let us know? Maybe he didn't want to face the shameful fate of having all of us find out his real name?

Well, you know what, I'm glad he won and doesn't have to reveal anything to the world. I didn't want to see the ugly mug under the paper bag anyway...

Really.

Okay, come on! Some other local official sue him so we can get the INFO!

The article in question.

My Name is Mud

2005-10-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

I love easter egg type stuff that is just for early adopters of technology. It's really great and, although completely trivial, it makes me feel just a little more validated in my purchase.

As if I need to feel more validated about my purchase of my HDTV and paying for an HD feed with my digitalTV package... I mean, High Def Rocks!

And last night, that sentiment was confirmed on "My Name is Earl". Rachel and I were watching it and the scene shown in the picture came on. She asked what that sign he was holding in the background was. With a rewind, we see Earl's brother is holding a sign that says "High Def Rocks"...just to the wide edge of the screen that could only be visible on HD feeds.

As if I need to feel more validated about watching "My Name is Earl"... I mean, Earl rocks!

U R AN ASSTRONAGHT.

HD Beat also has a story covering this awesomeness

Eurotrip

2005-09-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Amazing how quickly three weeks flies by...

I've been busy with trying to figure out where to start with planning a trip to Europe sometime in the next year. I'm not sure if there is much of anything that is more overwhelming. I'm spending hours and hours pouring through message boards and reading every internet article written about travel in Europe. We have a sample itineray together...

Three days London.
Two days Amsterdam (houseboat on canal)
Three days Bellagio on Lake Como in Italian Alps.
Four Days Rome.

Anyone with deep travel experience in Europe want to tell me that I'm crazy and need to be doing something else or stopping else where. I am especially interested in advice on what to see in London and to a lesser extent Rome. Let me know!

Scientists take the effort out of moving objects

2005-08-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

A team led by scientists from Edinburgh University has succeeded in objects move remotely and with no direct physical effort.

America is now free to get lazier. If that is possible.

Also from the article...

However, nanotechnology is not without controversy. Although the Prince of Wales publicly denied reports last year that he thought the world could be reduced to grey goo by an army of self-replicating nanobots, he has remained cautious about the technology.

Sounds like A_B isn't the only one worried about the mainkinds impending doom at the hands of technology.

SLC Punk

2005-08-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Howdy from fabulous Salt Lake City. Courtyard Marriott is a pretty nice hotel and it has free high speed internet in my room. Not a bad deal. My buddy, Peter, and I are here for a few days to attend dealer training for Control4. The training should be good, but the big deal is that they are shipping out my product so I can pimp out my house. Automated living, baby.

We flew in and got to the hotel about 9:20pm and headed to the restaurant next door (Iggy's) for a quick bit to eat and a drink. In case you never plan on visiting Utah, let me explain how the laws work here when it comes to alcohol. Needless to say, Eventine wouldn't do well here.

A bar is a club. You have to have a membership to one of these private clubs in order to just go to a place for drinks. Anywhere else you drink is considered a restaurant and you MUST order food in order to drink. All draft beer is only 3.2 alcohol by volume, but you can get bottled beer that is normal beer. If you order a drink with hard liquor in it, you can only have one drink on the bar at a time. The waitress actually stood at the bar holding our second drinks, looking at us expectantly, while we held our drinks and looked confused. If you drink beer, you can have one hard liquor drink at the same time, but only one additional drink.

The best part was when the waitress was taking the time to explain to us all of these rules. We asked why Budwieser would want to produce special beer just for Utah. She told us that it wasn't really specially brewed beer because everywhere else gets kegs from the same place. The difference is that most states have their kegs measured by weight but, in Utah, their kegs are measured by volume.

We both started at her trying to figure out how that makes a difference in the alcohol content... She then mumbles something about alcohol content by volume and wandered away.

It was confusing to say the least...and our first big adventure in Utah.

IM not sure I care

2005-08-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

The internets are abuzz with talk of Google's entry into the instant messenger playfield. Of course, Google could leave a booger on the underside of a desk and the internet faithful would trip over each other trying to get at it. And, I am guilty. I downloaded it and Google Sidebar this week as soon as they were available..

The problem is...I'm not sure I care. Instant messaging is obviously a very popular form of internet communication but in discussing the phenomenon with Chad this morning, I realized how little I care about Google Talk or IM, in general. Studies say that among youth on the internet, they greatly prefer IM to email and view email as old fashioned and out of date. I suddenly feel like there is an internet generation gap beginning to develop. For quite a while, you either were on the internet or you weren't. Of course, there are levels of interest in the web and web enhanced products (if this post pops up via RSS in your Google Sidebar, you, my friend, not only have great taste, but are part of the top echelon of internet users).

Broadband vs dialup is a huge dividing point but that largely falls to two main factors. Availability and interest. You either can't access a broadband connection or you aren't that into technology. What seems to be developing now is an age separation and maybe I am simplifying it by assigning it to age alone, but it seems to be the dominant contributing issue. My sister, who is five years younger than I am, is part of the IM generation, yet I am not. She went through her developmental years of adolensence with IM as a huge part of the way she and her friends communicated.

I, on the other hand, got my first computer when I was about 8 and was logging onto BBS on a 2400baud modem. I also recall that when I was in high school and developing the majority of my social skills (or lack thereof), e-mail was new and cool. It became part of my language.

Another thing that I actually am a little bitter about when it comes to instant messaging is the pushiness of it. Cell phones are bad enough. I don't like feeling like I have to get back to someone at this very instant. I don't like the pressure of responding quickly and often feeling forced to do so. I like to organize my thoughts and edit my ideas before sending them out for ridicule to the cruel world. I like the fact that I can ignore an e-mail for a couple hours (or days) before getting back to it.

So, screw you, instant messaging. Sure, I have Google talk installed, but I do it in slight protest and only because I still love Google (mainly for Earth, Maps, and Mail.) Although, A_B is right, they do seem to be sliding towards overbearing.

And one PS...is it just me or is the sidebar kind of ugly and unoriginal. I uninstalled in about two hours and moved to Desktop Sidebar.

I wish it was only a PennyArcade.

2005-08-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

We have a pretty good sized room in our house that has become the de facto game room. It has a small bar, 8 foot pool table and a dart board. What it needs, is this.

I can dream can't I? Filled with MAME games and ready for action. I just need to figure out how to get an online money raising campaign started. After all, if this guy can get $5000 for a stupid G5, I can get $3500 for a kick ass arcade machine from hell, right?

Tommy Lee Goes to College

2005-08-17T09:08:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I am typing this, but we caught Tommy Lee Goes to College last night on NBC and it is really pretty good. There is a large contingency of people who tend to write off the reality tv genre as a whole and to them, I say, bite me. RealityTV, like anything other genre, is only as good as the concept and the personalities involved. This show has a pretty unoriginal concept (Back to School, anyone?), but Tommy Lee is the perfect personality for it.

He has the laidback, stoner vibe that is perfect for college life at the University of Nebraska. Instead of a fish out of water, he is the big tuna in a pond filled with chicks, parties and fun. The thing that amazed me the most about the show is the fact that Tommy actually seems to be taking it pretty seriously. When he gets a question right in his Horiculture class you literally want to cheer for him. And when he tries out for the marching band and sucks, I really felt for the guy.

Surprising, I know. But check it out if you don't believe me. You know you want to.

Big Thanks!

2005-08-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to Ei-Nyung (aka eingy) for the help with getting my new header into the template correctly!

You recieve the first annual zeropointDigital Coding Wizard of the Year award. Congratulations!!

10 MPH Movie Trailer

2005-08-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

The movie about 2 guys who crossed America using just a Segway just released their movie trailer.

So, this seem like an interesting concept. Drive across America on a Segway scooter. That must have been one LONG extension cord.

...see trailer

To see more awesome photos from the talented
photographer that shot this picture - click here.

Custom Header

2005-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

I have a custom header idea for this blog and have the complete set of Photoshop skills to put one together (a link should be here to the Seppo World Tour thread on TGF) but I have no IDEA where to stick it in my template in order to get it to show up. Any Blogger fans have an idea?

And please make sure the obligatory "stick it in my template" jokes are well thought out and hillarious. Thanks!

Technology - solving mysteries for mankind

2005-08-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

I found this quote on the internets today and thought this was appropriate.

Computers are like bikinis. They save people a lot of guesswork.
-Sam Ewing

SCORPIONS!!

2005-08-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

SCORPIONS! Not live world wide, but live in my living room. I got up this morning about 7am and while my lovely wife was getting ready for work, I made some coffee and settled into my office to start the daily online search for newly posted jobs. About five minutes in I hear a screech from the other room and run to investigate.

When my wife and I moved to Phoenix over five years ago, she was excited about the move with two massive reservations named, rattlesnake and scorpion. Of course, I reassured her that, although they are here, she would most likely never see one and not have to worry about it. Even after quite a few mountain hikes, we have yet to see a rattlesnake (there was one close call though, we were hiking in the South Mountain Park one hot, early summer day and as we were approaching the peak another young couple were coming down the trail and made a passing comment about watching out for the snake on the trail ahead...needless to say, we didn't make it to the top).

Scorpion sightings have been kept to one time at the Arizona Mills Mall when a lady found a scorpion in her kids stroller while standing in line at the Gap...until this morning.

Back to the scream. Scorpion on the wall in our living room. This freaks me out a little bit, but Rachel, yikes, she actually cried. She tried to tell me that because it was small, it was a baby and they must be mating in our house and they were going to be everywhere. I did my best to reassure her that they are small naturally, which they are. Now what to do about the scorpions...

Browncoat fever

2005-08-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

It's said to say but I almost feel like I should be required to turn in my geek card. Every self respecting nerd in the continental United States has seen and adored Firefly at this point and somehow I have managed to avoid it. Maybe it has to do with my aforementioned aversion to chasing the crowd, but sometimes, when the crowd is small and well trusted, (here is where I would include a link to one of the discussions about the show on thegamersforum.com, but, alas, it appears to be entering it's twilight) I should just chase after the thing in question.

So, maybe you have been living under a large rock on the internet for the past two years and somehow have avoided the call of the browncoats. You know who you are (Lance). Firefly was the new show put together by Joss Whedon (if you need me to tell you what else he has done you may need to buck up and resign yourself to the fact that you, sir, are no geek.) Anyway, he put together half a season of the show and handed it over to Fox for air and they managed to make one of the worst mistakes in recent history when it come to the handling of a TV property. If they had canceled Arrested Development this year, I would say they are completely incompetent but it appears that at least someone who knows what they are doing over there.

So what makes Firefly so great? Well, I happen to love the sci-fi/western mashup, but it's not really the most original idea in the world. I seem to be drawn to things mixed with westerns, as The Dark Tower is my favorite book series and it combines western and fantasy. In fact, the show really borrows from Star Wars and reminds me a bit of Cowboy Bebop. The writing, of course, is the star of the show and the time that it takes to develop real, meaty characters is excellent. The special effects while kept to a minimum (think A New Hope, not Attack of the Clones) are really well done for a television budget.

You may be wondering why am I talking about a show that has been canceled for two years and is never coming back (/reverse psychology). Because of the movie, Silly. When the resulting DVD set sold a quarter of a million copies in the first couple of weeks, Universal Sudios took notice and greenlighted a film based on the show called Serenity It opens on September 30th and should be great. So, as I specialize in being so far behind the curve it is almost laughable, check out the show on DVD (or on the Sci-Fi Channel that is running the series on Friday nights right now) and don't miss the movie.

San Francisco Days, San Francisco Nights

2005-07-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

Friday night, Rachel (my wife) and I, had tickets to see Chris Isaak at the Celebrity Theater here in Phoenix. It was the second time that we had seen him live and it was a great, if not a bit short, show. She got the tickets as part of my gift for our fifth year anniversary. He is probably our favorite artist, as a couple. We danced to one of his songs as our first dance at our wedding reception and have great memories of spending a lot of time together before we were married listening to Baja Sessions.

If you aren't familiar with his music, he does a throwback style, rockabilly/country/crooner, Roy Orbison meets Elvis type of music with lots of focus on love, heartbreak, and the blues. Pretty great stuff.

Being an anniversary gift, she sprung for good tickets and we were in the tenth row, right next to walkway where the artists walk onto the stage from the back. What was most amusing were the women at this concert. It was a heavily middle aged crowd, mostly husband and wife combos on a night out, but the minute Chris hit the stage, he was the only man in the place. The ladies screamed like little girls in junior high. He pumped his hips. They screamed. He swiveled his hips. They screamed. He hit a high note. They screamed. They were animals.

At one point, he ventured out into the crowd and stood four feet from us for twenty seconds or so of singing, which was pretty cool. It's funny how when you are a fan of someone it seems so cool to get close to them. Of course, as he is on the way out, my wife reaches her hand over the railing as he walks by and he grabs her hand and gives her this sweaty, lingering hand grab...and for a second, she was right there with the rest of those middle aged ladies. And to be completely honest, I think I was almost there too.

I was wishing I got the sweaty mauling...

He's not heavy, he's my brother.

2005-07-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

My brother, Lance, called me today to brag for a while. He deserves it, I guess. He handed in his thesis for his Masters of public administration program at the University of North Dakota and that means he is officially finished...and, although I have always suspected that he may be smarter than me, (Not by much, mind you. For instance, if I were to score 150 on my iq test, he would be a 155. Just enough for it to bother me a little.) today it has been confirmed in the eyes of the world. Any idiot can get himself a bachelor degree, but a Masters? Well, by golly, that puts you in a whole 'nother category of educated types. According to 2004 educational census results, there are only approximately 12 million Americans with a Masters degree out of a population of 300 million. We'll call it the top five percent...and considering his plans are to get another Masters as well as a Doctorate, well, I guess he is going to end up one well-educated, pompous ass.

I just wanted to state for the record. I'm proud of my little brother. And I owe him a good wedgie the next time I see him. Remind him whose boss around here.

Unnecessary Censoring

2005-07-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping that my blog with become more than simply posts about strange connections made while reading other peoples blogs...but so far, this is working out for me.

Another friend puts up a hilarious hit and run post and a comment to it makes me think of this really funny Jimmy Kimmel clip.

Can you keep a secret?

2005-07-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Flipping through channels tonight, I stumble across the new All American Rejects video for the song Dirty Little Secret. Not that I knew the song at the time or that a group of rejects recorded it but something in it caught my attention and forced me to sit through the whole thing waiting for the band and song info that shows up at the end.

I discovered an interesting blog called PostSecret when a friend posted something about it. Neither of these things are of much note...until the video I spied on MTV2. At first I just thought the videomakers stole the idea from PostSecret for the video (which consists of the obligatory shots of the band pretending to perform the song intercut with shots of people holding up handmade post cards with secrets written on them). The interesting part is that they actually used real cards from the PostSecret site. I recognized at least five of them.

Like this one...

And this one.
And this one.
And this one.
And this one.

Okay, so I think we all get the point. And they weren't just copies or the wording. They were using that actually cards as submitted by users. I don't know how to feel about this. I know that part of the deal when you send these out is that they have the rights to them and it supposed to be liberating, but when the guy then turns and sells them for a cheesy music video. I guess, the idealist in me feels like he kinda cheapened these people's feelings and made what was a really interesting art project into another dumbass MTV product.

You can't stop the bum rush.

2005-07-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

So even after creating a blog, I have been holding off actually posting anything on it. Why? Mainly because every one I know has a blog. By the time, I thought it would actually be cool to have one, they were so ubiquitous that it seemed like a waste of time and space to publish one of mine own. Maybe it is my silly desire to not join the crowd. But, then I realize that I join the crowd in a million different ways already so what's the big deal. Just sell another piece of your identity down the river and wave as it floats away.

So what changed my mind? Well, a little bit of public embarrassment. And when I say a little bit, I mean, a REALLY little bit. Here's what happened. I saw something on TV which made me think of something I saw on a friend's blog. So I jumped online and started combing through posts to find it. Then I saw it. A link to my blog. Sure, it was spelt wrong, but still. The fact that it was there was staring me in the face. Of course, out of simple push of ego I click the link and it takes me to my completely empty blog. And now, here I sit. Typing to no one in particular, about nothing in particular. Strange feeling to be honest. But, hey, if everyone I know has a blog, why not join the crowd.

2005-05-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

This is the home of the all new zeropointdigital.

Welcome to zeropointdigital

2005-05-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

Open for business.