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mmmmmm Umphreys Mcgee. I received my promo package in the mail today. It looks good. It's a bit lighter in terms of burned CDs than previous years but it doesn't have a ridiculous surplus of flyers. The selection of CDs contains two sets, which are very distinct in sounds and offerings.

The first that I listened to was the second set from the 9/4/03 Bloomington show. This show is a rocker with the most intense Der Bluten Kat that I've ever heard. It's tracked as DBK->Jazz Odyssey->DBK, which is reaonable as Bayliss sings some improvised lyrics over the JO. There's a Tinklesesque peak in the first part of the DBK that is just transcendental. The JO starts Stewart style with Jake playing a riff, which Pony picks up on as Jake starts the B section. The whole band starts dancing around this theme, and Bayliss sings before the jam turns darker and they turn the metal knob to 11. It's wild. The subsequent Triple Wide even gets some metal mixed in with its techno, before the band needs to take a break with Push the PIg and a cover of Africa. Unreal.

The other set is set II from the 10/8/03 Ottos show. It's a bit more mellow, but no less good. the Hurt Bird Bath is extended with some surprising improv. The Thin Air> War Pigs is a good combo, but the thing that most impressed me was the second showing of Jake's tune "Never Cease to Amaze". It's a softer, poignant love song over some perplexing but beautiful rhythms. Jake is the man.

As for the Jake vs Bayliss thing, I am most definitely square in the middle; which is great because I can stand there and watch Pony do his thing.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 6:42 PM

 
Since I neglected to post last night... or all day, I figured I'd put something up that can't be appreciated by folks at work. Umphrey's McGee has finally updated their page of mp3s that sample the band's sound.

I think Wife Soup is the single song that offers the best idea of what UM is up to right now. It doesn't touch every base, but you can't get all of that in one tune. I would also encourage interested parties to listen to Miss Tinkle's Overture -> "Jimmy Stewart" and Muche's Odyssey back to back.

It's alo nice that Jeremy decided to put up an mp3 of the newly arranged Slacker. The song was easily my initial favorite when I got into UM. Unfortunately, the band lost interest in playing it. I have never seen it live. It's also been out of regular or even limited rotation for quite some time. I'm glad that it's back, even if the jam in the middle seems a bit out of place.

Oh FYI. I am planning to attend the following Umphrey’s Shows.

11/20/03 – The Middle East, Cambridge MA
11/21/03 – The Colorado Brewing Company – Danbury, CT
11/22/03 – The Northern Lights – Clifton Park, NY (Albany)

Also CWRU folk, note that UM will be playing Cleveland on 12/12.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 9:02 AM

 
Dancing to the electric razor noise band, my mind and body settled into a new sense of liberty and a cloudless sense of impending dread. Accountability crept up like a demon, riding waves of demented feedback to this electric boogaloo.

Gone is the nauseating false peace of mind generated by continuous temporary employment. I stand before my demons naked, defenseless with an agenda of applications and job boards. It's a laundry list of probably fruitless endeavors. At least I can focus on the game at hand, instead of arriving home exhausted with eyes dried by monitor glow.

I'm extracting a Joni Mitchell show from 1979... the aud sounds awful... but the band is too good for me to mind. I'll burn it, and may not listen to it again .. but it will be there. Joni Mitchel with Pat Methany and Jaco Pastorious - a primordial ooze of jazz folk. It sounds like music: serious; spontaneous and impassioned.

Background Music: Joni Mitchell 9/7/79 - Big Yellow Taxi
posted by Ben at (0) comments 6:12 PM

 
I am never shopping at Brookstone again. I didn't shop there much to begin with, but never again. I am very dissatisfied with the quality of my notice of termination of employment.

Since it was my first day and all, I expected to be shown the ropes given a ask and be allowed to complete it. I completed two tasks, made a personal phone call (to my credit card company to cancel a lost card), and checked personal email at work (very infrequently). My supervisor saw me do these things and made no complaint, not even a disapproving glance. She just called career connections and gave me the boot. In my defense. I observed "coffee break" internet surfing, and overheard phone calls about Boy Scouts. I was also instructed to get up and walk around take a break, or get a soda whenever I wanted to. Apparently, leisure time in the break room has a different impact on my productivity than leisure time with my email. You'd think a company whose business is producing and marketing gadgets to improve quality of leisure time would have a better handle on the concept.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 7:34 PM

 
OK. It's official. While today is my last day at RiverStone, it is not the beginning of a period of unemployment. I'll be working in Brookstone's finance department starting Monday.

Right now, at this moment "Divided Sky" is the greatest song in the world. (8/13/96 - Deer Creek)
posted by Ben at (0) comments 1:30 PM

 
On behalf of Emtybag Productions, nothing gives us greater pleasure than to make this official announcement! The Umphrey’s McGee DVD will be available and shipped to all pre-order customers by November 9, 2003. Anyone who pre-ordered the DVD will receive a package shortly thereafter, complete with collectors items and special extra goodies! We are continuing to take special edition pre-orders at www.emtybag.net, while supplies last.

Woot!!!!!
posted by Ben at (0) comments 1:04 PM

 
Last night, when I was packing my CDs I made the bold choice of bringing LivePhish 9 along. This show dates from 8/26/89 at the Townshend Family Park in Townshend Vermont. Something which I would normally regard as too old to really be good, but good enough to be in a collection (although not really bad but historically justified like some 84/85 stuff that I have kicking around). I'd only listened to this LP once before, as part of a marathon and shelved it because it's 89. There’s some improv, but not much interesting jamming. I also can't stand the sound of page's crappy synth-piano, and trey seems to have gone out of his way to dial in a similar tone. While I like the idea of a single group sound for the four headed monster i wish Page were able to find a better voice for his keys. I'm not sure if it's a problem with technology or finances, it doesn't matter regardless. Unfortunately, the only way to make a guitar sound like a real piano is midi - and that's cheating - so the single sound four-headed monster was killed by innovation.

I'm a lot more interested in the improv on this show with this listen. They are screwing around in profoundly interesting ways. They aren't long exploratory jams... musically it sounds like they are trying to pull a page from Zappa's playbook and see who can keep a straight face longest while they play the craziest things they can think of. I particularly appreciated Trey working the Foam theme into the Charlie Parker cover "Donna Lee". He fit that lick right over the bass line. The subsequent Funky Bitch was rife with La Grange teases and allusions, right down to arranging the vocals in a La Grange-esque fashion. BTW, this Bowie jam is the most progressive thing that I've heard yet. Dehydrated Bangor tweezer - just add 5 years.

For the purposes of calibration, I should also note that I listened to Dave Matthew’s Before these Crowded Streets in the morning and enjoyed it more than I remembered.

Background Music Phish 8/26/89 - Foam, David Bowie

4:06 PM - Also, Trey says Marco Esquandolas countless times in Antelope, making for the longest Marco Esquandolas segment that I have heard (note: I consider the IT antelope to have skipped the Marco Esquandolas segment)
posted by Ben at (0) comments 3:34 PM

 
Snow!!

I awoke this morning to see a grey winter mix falling from the sky, and it is but October. Perhaps the old farmer's almanac is right, and this year will bring a rough winter. The accumulation of snow wasn't much. There was just about a quarter of an inch on my car. Just enough to make me climb around the wagon of death looking for my snow brush.

I love winter weather, but it seems out of place before Halloween.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 9:47 AM

 
Or I could find some hair goop and a jogging suit and go as Paulie Walnuts.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 4:08 PM

 
Ok. After thinking all day that I'd be Buckethead for Halloween, I've decided it's a no go. The thought of eating/drinking while wearing the mask (or the hassle of constantly removing it) was a major turn off. Also, knowing that Buckethead doesn't talk, while I have no intention of being silent would tear at me for the evening.

I take the costume thing too seriously... but If I'm going to dress up, I'm going all out. Maybe I won't dress up. I'll just go as L.L. Bean. Either the store, or the man. It's really the same deal. The key feature is the boots. I hate those boots. Love the chamois... hate the boots.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 4:04 PM

 
It’s another grey sky afternoons with a nip in the air that hints at winter. The office whispers with rooms of snow. Could winter yet be born? Arduous prose, where are the words to describe my sentiments. I am swimming in warm taffy. Moving through a day with a brain working double time, watching the world sluggishly pass by.
Only 2.5 hours more.
How can the morning fly by, but the afternoon stall?
Umphrey’s Mcgee

10/17/03 from Osh Kosh was a solid show. It made me very excited for the three day run that Kate and I will make when they hit the northeast in late November. I had only too complaints about the show – The Crooked One sounded a bit tired, it used to be one of my favorite UM tunes but they don’t seem too excited by it. That’s understandable as it hasn’t stretched or evolved much since it was introduced. I’m sure that it will eventually have the potential to break it’s mold. The Triple Wide did it. On Paper the Triple Wide > Cherub Rock encore locks awesome. My other complaint was that the > wasn’t much of a segue. They did a great techno-> grunge jam in the triple wide but brought it back down to silence, or near silence before switching gears. Segues only really impress me when they are full on balls to the wall full band shifts. I’m not sure if they got close enough to Cherub Rock in the triple wide, but the way the jam was going I fully expected to be wowed, although if I were at the show I would have been doubly wowed.

The news is rather depressing of late. The case of the woman in Florida and her feeding tube is really ethically ambiguous… I don’t know the facts, and can’t make a valid decision… but she doesn’t seem entirely natural, but killing her isn’t entirely natural either. Of course, the word entirely is inconsequential in terms of decision making and the concept of “natural” is vague and meaningless. It’s just a sense. I’m not entirely convinced of her humanity, and I’m frightened by that. She was once human, I have no question of that but I’m not sure how much is left. Maybe it’s a question of metaphysics. How severely damaged can a body and a brain be and still function as a vessel for the soul? Do we have aura cam evidence? Do I believe in the aura cam? Maybe. I believe in E&M and certainly see the body as having significant potential to produce e&m fields that are detectable. It certainly has an e&m response to fields giving rise to MRIs and other instruments. We have concrete interpretations of E&M activity for medical applications. Can we develop metaphysical interpretations? Have people aura-cammed cadavers?
posted by Ben at (0) comments 3:02 PM

 
"It's over!"
I just received concrete word that Friday will be my last day. Now I need to find my prox card, which vanished somewhere between my room and the door.

Music: Umphrey's McGee- Jimmy Stewart - 10/17/03
posted by Ben at (0) comments 9:39 AM

 
Aside from a setlist blip on some distant sonar, it's been silent running onboard. We've passed the artic ice shelf, and are in place to begin our assault. It's a cryptic message for a cryptic time. Look about, the turnabout intruder... there. I see that shadow looking over my shoulder. It's a paranoid afternoon. There's no certainty. Who could be reading this thing. Kate looks like she's at Case. Genuity, Net1PLus? how are you and why do you keep coming back. What is your obsession? What is your interest.

Grey cloud mist, shiny sun steeple.... the only hints of the outside visible over my cubicle wall and through the window down the hall.

I've turned up my headphones to quiet the demons within.... Sheryl Crow drowns them with layers of strings... like Phil Specter on acid... more acid, or at least better acid which wasn't fabricated by some kid using film canisters and paste.

There are demons on the horizon. A New SAT, stark with a subversive virtue seducing the system and making my kids laugh at my score... It'll be a 2400 pt exam with an essay, Algebra II and no analogies. Instead it will test grammar.

While I hated learning grammar - poor presentation and boring material - I recognize it as an essential component to education. Not only is it a system of syntax that is useful to all students, it promotes literacy and effective communication. Unfortunately, this boon is riding the back of a demon. The SAT has shifted its focus from measuring a students potential for success in college to becoming a tool of politics. The stated objective of these changes is to inspire a reform of academic curricula. The ball started rolling when the University of California's president suggested eliminating the SAT as a requirement (thus encouraging a lot of students not top give the College board $35 for the exam). The board leadership accepted that as a challenge to promote radical reform. Not only is it seeking to please it's largest client - the exam wants to become a crusader.

As an avid supporter of education, and a believer in some reforms like grammar, and a more rapid introduction to mathematic and scientific thought this might seem like a gift from the gods. A gift it may be, but it is nothing but a lavishly decorated giant - horse, filled with hordes set to sweep out the principles of democracy. No one elected the college board. Why should we listen to a small group of people in New Jersey. They are not our leaders. They may claim to have the goal of improving education, but they then preach a doctrine of teaching to the test, of developing test taking skills over more general analytical and creative abilities.

Oh, I could write an editorial on this that would certainly have me called to the assistant principles office.

Other demons are on the move in Malaysia. The Prime Minister has welcomed a major conference of Arab nations by speaking of a return to one islam, of unifying and using their clout to defeat their enemies. The occupiers, the jews, etc... He denounced terrorism, but spoke of no efforts to live in long-term peace with non-arabs. In fact, he related the "European" success killing 6 of 12 million Jews as inspirational material. There are clouds in the pacific that will weep blood.

There are demons in the sky visiting ourt earth. Or at least, that's what the Sci-Fi channel is gambling in-terms of hefty legal fees. It's suing NASA for UFO Documents. Interestingly, former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta is also involved. Hmmmm..... Maybe, he already knows something. I would certainly like to know. The Truth is Out There! Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. All these worlds are yours, except for Europa. Land no ships there.

What demons lurk inside of me? On Saturday, they'll be outside out. I've been questing for a Halloween costume for quite some time. My best idea so far has been to go as "The Curtain" - a shower curtain with some phish lyrics and maybe a baby doll. I've also considered going as a beltless buckler, but while I am horseless I also lack a saddle. Cruising the Phantasy Phish boards, I stumbled onto ideas to do Raul Duke and Buckethead. Both seem very intriguing. I would also be interested in something incorporating my cheesehead. Perhaps I could go as "undecided" or some sort of combo platter.
posted by Ben at (1) comments 1:53 PM

 
Mike Gordon and ZYDN
10/15/03 Avalon, Boston, MA
Bone Delay
Outside Out >
Scrapple From The Apple >
Outside Out
Car Carrier Blues
If You Ask Me
Piano jam >
Soul of a Man
Sunday Driver (Gordon Stone)
Soulfood Man
For the Losers
The Lesson*
Regression
That's the Way
The Teacher
E: Exit Wound
Southwind (Gordon Stone)

*dedicated to Jared Slomoff
posted by Ben at (0) comments 12:17 PM

 
Reprieve to limbo. I'm back on the "come in until they tell me otherwise" work schedule. Good points/bad points. At least I don't need to scrimp and save just yet. New Vida Blue record, here I come!
posted by Ben at (0) comments 4:22 PM

 
Last night had some rough news for Sox fans, among whom I seem to be counting myself despite a previous distaste for Baseball. I guess watching the little league world series (Go Saugus!) taught me enough of the game to appreciate it, even on a professional level. I think I'm glad about that. While I don't see myself getting excited about home openers, or watching the sucks until the pressure is on - I'm just not that into sports and there's too many games in a baseball season for any one to be uniquely consequential. Yet, I would have been psyched to sit down and watch the Sox in the series - knowing full well that the cursed team could not win.

I may be a bigger fan of the curse, than I am of the Sox, because the curse provides the drama of fandom: hoping for the win, but knowing on some level that it is impossible... or maybe it is. Sox fans are hopeful. Yankees fans expect the win, and just hope that their team doens't choke. Even if it's an "off year" they expect to win the World Series. What fun is that. The team can only let them down. The Sox can only bring us up rising above the Bambino's curse.

It was a good year for Boston Baseball. Saugus made it to the US Championships of the Little League World Series, losing one round before the big game. The Sox pulled out all their stops and did a very similar thing... one round away from the championship. Maybe whey a Mass. team wins the LLWS, the curse will reverse. Dooming the Yankees to a century of heartbreak.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 2:31 PM

 
I left out the funniest anecdote. At the show, I wore one of the crazy shirts that I used to wear all the time in High School. Sometimes you need to wear a crazy shirt, especially when you're feeling down and are going outside out. After the show, while I was waiting for Kate, Mike's mom, Marj Minkin, walked by and took a long hard look at my shirt. Yeah! I wonder if she designed the backdrop. It was carefully controlled star field of Christmas lights which became very trippy at all of the right moments and sent us all to the 11th dimension.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 3:39 PM

 
Last night's Mike Gordon show was quite a pick-me up. Kaki King's opening set, combined with a developing Red Sox win set an interesting mood. She played a very percussive multi-part solo/acoustic guitar. It sounded something like a cross between Leo Kottke and a Chris Wood bass solo transposed to guitar. There was a lot of tapping, slaps and speed. At times, it bordered on being too percussive - I wanted to here some of the notes develop their tone - but I'd imagine that I'd have an easier time picking them up if I listened to her more.

Mike Gordon's set was even more difficult to describe - but was very positive. It was sort of a bluegrass vs jazz band. On one side of the stage sat Gordon Stone (pedal steel guitar and banjo), Scott Murawski of Max Creek ( bluegrass/rock guitar) and Mike (bass). On the other side of the drum set stood tap dancer Jeannie Hill, Josh Roseman - of Charlie Hunter fame - on trombone, Julee Avalonee vocalist/flutes/saxophones, and James Harvey (of the GCH) on a very jazzy keyboard. There were trombone solos in bluegrass tunes, pedal steel guitar dressed jazz numbers, and Mike's compositions fusing both styles were unreal. The live interpretation of Soul Food Man takes a silly song with a funky bass line and transformed it into a tour-de-force musical masterpiece. I think it got me over most of my funk about being let go. To quote Michael Franti "Everybody deserves music, sweet music." Even, I assume, the New York Yankees.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 2:39 PM

 
It's rather depressing to continue working at a place that has expressed that it is no longer interested in my services. Of course, I need every penny to tide me until my next windfall. I'm not complaining about having to come to work. It's just sad. I don't think that the people whith whom I worked most closely had any input in my retention / release. C'est la vie.

I just wish the flood of sad memories would stop reinforcing this funk. Maybe I should try listening to some depressing muiscto feel better about myself. Good-bye Trey, hello Tom Waits.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 12:41 PM

 
good bye cash flow.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 3:49 PM

 
It's been a long day of data entry at a quite Riverstone. Working on Columbus Day was an interesting experience. The commute was smooth, and the office unusually silent. I shouldn't complain about the work too loudly, I haven't had a Columbus day off in six years. I'm almost used to it. If it weren't for the fact that Kate had it off, and we could have had an interesting 3-day weekend I probably wouldn't care.

We made good use of our two day weekend. We hiked the Osceolas, in an out and back from the Kanc on the Greeley Ponds trail. It was nice to see the fall foliage even though it was a bit past prime (I think the best color was around the lakes region). Having never done the Osceolas, but hearing a lot about the views I expected a slightly different experience. The summit of our first peak was entirely wooded, but there was an occasional viewpoint along the trail. The second peak had a large ledge and spectacular view. Unfortunately, it also had a small city of day hikers. I don't usually complain about crowds. I accept them as a natural consequence of hiking during warm weather. It was just a big surprise given the numbers of folk we encountered on the trail. Of course, most of these people ascended that sole peak.

To celebrate the completion of our hike, we dined at Foodees in Concord, and enjoyed their sour-dough pizza crust with a variety of toppings. We had some issues with service, but no issues with food. Although it wasn't entirely filling, as we ended up at Friendly's eating Jim Dandy's before the night was through. The Jim Dandy is hilarious. 5 scoops of ice cream and a banana, it is the largest item on the Friendly’s dessert menu - and given recent price increases it is likely the most economical. I can never order one with out cracking up about the time that Joe Brackett and I had a Jim dandy Race. I won, as I was better able to withstand the ice-cream headache.

On Sunday, we shopped, jammed and saw Intolerable Cruelty. I didn't think that the Coen brothers would be able to pull it off ; but they pulled it off. It was a very enjoyable film, with some great lines and some great gags. Wheezy Joe!

The rain delay interfered with my traffic planning, keeping me in beantown long enough to listen to all of E-town on my ride home. Billy Bragg was more enjoyable, and mellow tempered that I expected. Most artists who dabble in politics take on an anti-establishment, or anti-conservative position. He claimed to be anti-cynical. I dug it. He was much more about building than he was about tearing things down.

I similarly dug Joe Liebermann's appearance on CNN this morning to pitch his "tax restructuring plan". More taxes for the rich, cuts for the middle class. I'd like to see tax cuts across the board, but understand the importance of increasing consumer spending to improve the economy. I also appreciated how Lieberman was able to defend his pro-war stance while still distancing himself from the administrations mistakes in handling the post-war situation.

Joe Liebermann said that he was the type of guy who makes decisions that he feels are right even if they aren't popular, and that he thinks that’s something that a president should do. I agree. (Sadly, Joltin’-Joe will loose terribly come February.)


posted by Ben at (1) comments 4:50 PM

 
I have a charge!!!!! It's legit. We're going to the 20th Anniversary Show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Ben at (0) comments 12:14 PM

 
Ok. I'm an unashamed geek. I still watch Star Trek. I'll watch a well timed repeat of any of the series (although I can never seem to find a DS9 episode). I even go out of my way to watch the new ones. Now, I don't run to the internet and complain about every little glitch or bad episode, but last nights was so bad that I can't contain myself. It may be so bad that Trek has passed a point of no return. I'll call it "Escape From the Zombie Vulcans". Now, I recognize that the people in charge of Star Trek have no idea what aspects of the show entice the fans. But the "new and improved" war on terror arc in Enterprise is squandering most of its opportunity to make interesting social commentary by stumbling into a quagmire of bad sci-fi ideas.

People who would go out of their way to watch an hour of lurching Vulcan zombies, who due to budget constraints, have no dialogue deserve to be mocked. Sure, there was some nifty camera trick ( i think reducing 30 fram/sec shots to TV 24) that made the intense scenes seem more spooky. But that doesn't really matter. The episode wasn't campy enough to pass itself off as an homage to bad horror films. It played the whole thing far to straight. I didn't acre about the characters. I didn't care about the tragedy of the Zombie Vulcans. I didn't worry about the Zombieification of T'Pol. I didn't miss that the producers found yet another opportunity to sneak in a shot of her bare back. How many times this season? Jolene Blalock isn't even that hot. I'd rather see that Asian chick from BU, or even better limit the partial nudity until the script actually calls for it in a meaningful way (not the crazy Vulcan massage stuff).

The writers and producers need to get back to basics, and watch some tapes from the original series to see what gave the show it's longevity. It's not the cat suits, mini-skirts, or even the action. Yes, we like to see some of that every once in a while. What gems did people see through William Shatner's acting? I'd recommend "The Balance of Terror", "the City on the Edge of Forever" and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" as a good starting point. They ought to consider these episodes (especially the book ends) in terms of the socio-political context of the day. The Balance of terror is an interesting extrapolation of the Cuban Missile crisis, and "Let That Be Your last Battlefield" elucidates the pointlessness of racial violence with a poetry that has not returned to the small screen. TNG had some nice ethical dilemmas with some very good episodes, a few clunkers, and some episodes that would be bad if they weren't done so well. "I, Borg", "Darmok", and "The Inner Light" were very interesting ethical and moving stories that were well received by fans.

Unfortunately, "The Best of Both Worlds" parts I and II with its enormous popularity set executives in the wrong direction. the two patter was closer to a movie in its construction and execution than a TV show. The jeopardy plot was real, and urgent. The writers were smart enough to also introduce some new characters and the discussion of Riker's ignored ambition to become a Captain so that the possibility of Picard's death became very real. The success of this action oriented, and somewhat ethically ambiguous episode inspired the writers to be increasingly more gratuitous with the use of non-sensical and seemingly obligatory jeopardy plots. Star Trek slowly started to become more like the Sci FI baseline that it had long held itself above.

Now, I never watched Farscape and haven't seen Stargate SG-1. I don’t know what the Sci-Fi channel is marketing as the heirs to the throne. I just hope that Paramount doesn't continue this trend towards abdication.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 10:25 AM

 
Now this is some mud-slinging that I can get behind. Kerry is accusing Dean of being a Yankees fan. There is no worse thing to be in New England, especially right now. Whether or not we like the Red Sox, whether or not we care about baseball, almost all New Englanders will agree, wholeheartedly, that the Yankees Suck!.

For the record, I'm rooting for a Cubbies/Sox World Series. The Babe will give this one to the Cubbies for being such good sports for 95 years - revealing his plans to uncurse the BoSox in 2003 (after a 95 year ringless streak).
posted by Ben at (0) comments 4:32 PM

 
If I were C-dubs, I'd jave a job. I'd have an office with this view out of my window.

But I'm not C-dubs. So I have no job. I have a cubicle and this view on my webpage.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 1:26 PM

 
I received an email from a temp staffing agency that I applied to last night wanting to know if I had any fermentation experience. While I haven't worked with a fermenter, I have an in-depth knowledge from my grad reactions engineering class. I can do enzyme kinetics like nobody's business. Of course, that won't count there's too much of a learning curve. Fermentation is the oldest chemical process to be controlled by man. I know more about it than almost everyone who has used it up until at-least the mid-sixties. It wouldn't be that difficult to pick up the rest.

Maybe, I should start home brewing to get some fermentation experience.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 10:24 AM

 
I'm still not sure what I think about the rise of the Governator. It could be good, it could be bad. I think my father said it best as "California makes its own problems.".

I know that I don't like the idea of a recall. I believe that a representative government should be responsible to its people; but it should not be held to the whims of the masses. Nothing gets done during a campaign; at least nothing of vision. Zzyzx made the astute observation in his live journal that Californians will demand short term successes, and not long term goals. The political attention span has shrunk. This is terribly unfortunate because economies do not respond instantaneously. Yes a few stocks here and there might jump up or down based upon good or bad news, but that's not truly consequential. Day traders almost always loose money. What matters is long term growth and stability. Stocks aren’t baseball cards to be collected after a few home runs, and they certainly aren't much better than tarot cards at predicting job growth and security - the things that people really care about.

I also like the idea of electing a leader who can make an unpopular decision that truly is in the best interest of his nation. Seward wasn't elected, but his folly was quite a boon for the US. Even if there wasn't oil and gold in those hills, I can't imagine the Cold War staying chill if Russia owned Alaska. Tony Blair is a better example because he was elected, and his decision to go to war in Iraq was certainly unpopular amongst his constituents. I can't make a string case that it was the absolute best decisions. We're too mired in media politics to really see what's going on. I still hope that it was correct. I just wish we did it in such a way that didn't encourage Israel to start attacking Syria, although I'm sure that they deserve it.

My political nest is a rather populist state, in a rather populist region of the country. We still have a very strong direct democracy at the town level, particularly in regards to education. That's probably why we have such a low per-capital expenditure on education (yet, graduate students that are as good as those in more liberal states). As a people, we generally don't believe that you can solve problems by simply throwing money at them. We try to make informed and thoughtful decisions. Unfortunately, it's difficult to be truly informed on every issue facing a state or a country. Media bias doesn’t help. CNN is just as biased as Fox News, and you only get fair and balanced reporting by watching both and throwing out half of what you hear.

The common citizen doesn’t have the time to become an expert on geo-political theory, islam, judiasm, macroeconomics, military strategy, microeconomics, game theory, and everything else that is necessary to make good political decisions. That's why we select representatives who can be paid to become experts and thus make the legislative or executive decisions for us. We choose them based on how their interpretations align with our own, past actions, and stated vision. We don't choose them so that they will follow our every command. We know what they've done, the type of person they are and can guess whether or not they will behave in a predictable manner. If they surprise us, we don't throw them out - unless the surprise was lawlessness.

I wonder what Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would have to say about the recall, and the election of the governator. Did the people of California betray Jefferson's trust? Did they really elect an incapable executive? Would John Adams federalist ideas of a government that is slightly removed from the masses seem more appealing? I don't know.

Arnold certainly lacks formal training and political experience, but he comes by a powerful think-tank. I guess the value of the think tank depends on how it's used. FDR used his brain trust very successfully. I think that G-dub is getting mixed and incomplete signals from his and either not making decisions or making poorly informed choices. His machine has gotten away from him. How will Arnold's serve its governor?
posted by Ben at (0) comments 10:03 AM

 
It has been a slow day at work. I've been printing lots of short documents (5-7pp) that don't offer me much chance to do anything between print jobs. That puts a damper on my correspondence and journal writing duties. I've increased my correspondence with various fraternity brothers so that I may "keep strong my ties to them [my college and my chapter] so that I may ever retain the spirit of youth."

John Ritter's last episode of 8 Simple Rules is on tonight. I'll watch it, but it'll be sad. The first one this season was really hard to watch, but last week’s was easier. We'll see...

There's a hold on my card for Phish Tickets. Hope Hope Hope. I'm jobless, but still I'm happily filling the pipeline that runs directly from my wallet to Burlington. 20th Anniversary show, in Boston (first Boston show since 1996). I'm hoping that Jeff Holdsworth sits in on guitar for Possum. That is all. Of course, I'd be happy if they just played Michael Jackson's Thriller (possibly with a guest appearance by Thraller). So really anything..... especially Divided and Destiny.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 2:57 PM

 
1951 Case Alum and member of PKT Alpha Delta Chapter, Paul C. Lauterbur has won the nobel prize for contributions aiding the development of the MRI. Woot!
posted by Ben at (0) comments 2:21 PM

 
"True salvation lies with Que Tal." - Thraller

posted by Ben at (0) comments 10:21 AM

 
This was a weekend that challenged expectations. The Assembly of Dust show was stellar, when I expected a sort of lack luster show with a couple good old strangefolk songs. At least, that's what they were like the last time that I saw them.

How things have changed in a year. No longer is the assembly a bunch of talented musicians playing some songs together. They are a band, and they play like a band. Maybe it was because we were standing by the bass and the keys, but they no longer sound like a folk-rock band that's that's just rehashing Stangefolk's territory. They're exploring the folk roots of many of these tunes with textures pulled from jazz, rock, techno, and bluegrass. That could sound like anything. If Steely Dan and a sedated Hendrix were to play strangefolk tunes, it might sound something like the Assembly of Dust.

I also really like the material that has been developed since Reid left Strangefolk. Corpus Christi was a great tune, very Steely Dan - Nate must have been involved in the writing. The ethereal new song borrowed from Emily Dickenson. The improv was unreal. Who would have thought "Songs We Sing" could become an improv monster and become the highlight of teh second set. Watching John Leccess modulate the bass line and finger relentless blasts of 16th notes pushed the song beyond comprehension. 16th notes, and lots of them.

Brianne tried to turn Saturday night into a video game party. While its nice to play with her new gamecube, it isn't exactly an event. The evening was more subdued - but still very nintendo centric. I learned that Kate's cd player, when on shuffle, has strong biases to discs 2 and 5 and against disc 1.

"Lost in Translation" was an interesting movie, but not entirely what any of us expected. It's certainly an art film which employees very interesting visual techniques to tell a story with very little dialogue, and no real exposition. For the most part, it worked, but there were a couple little things in the script (including one plot twist) that detracted from the over-all greatness of the film. These minor flaws struck at the characters, maybe even contradicting the way th portrayed themselves in dialogue less scenes. Of course, my idea of greatness and the ideas of the average embittered critic are likely very different. I enjoyed the cinematography in the film most. It looked like a Chris Isaac guitar solo sounds, soft, slow, close and moving. At the same time, some of the scene cuts and transitions were dizzying, capturing the wonder and confusion of being a stranger in a strange land.

As interesting as it was, I think "School of Rock" might have been better to see. There is little it could do that would strike me as pretentious. It's only Rock and Roll, but I like it.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 11:56 AM

 
The Assembly of Dust
10/3/03
Paradise Theater Boston,MA
set 1

1.Samuel Aging
2.Honey Creeper
3.Speculator
4.New Real Rhythm
5.Far from Yourself*
6.Rachel
7.Westerly-> (new song lyrics )-> Westerly

set 2
1.45 Degrees
2.Songs We Sing
3.Sinner
4.Corpus Christi
5.Burned Down
6.The Honest Hour**
7.Heartblood

Encore:Walnut

* solo acoustic Reid, the band left the stage. ** New Song /first time played
posted by Ben at (0) comments 9:01 AM

 
Nate Wilson plays without shoes!
posted by Ben at (0) comments 7:42 AM

 
I hate scalpers. I like the free market, but I don't see tickets as being like stocks which should be bought and sold at prices determined by market demand. The ticket price is determined by the folks holding the event, partly so that they can attract an audience that finds the ticket price "reasonable", or discourage riff raff by setting high prices.

I wish that additional efforts were taken to limit scalping. Easy means are to limit the number of tickets that can be bought in a single purchase. While a limit of 2, which Phish often uses, might be a bit extreme but large limits like 10 tickets per person are a bit extreme. General Admission events are also effective at limiting scalping, by limiting the maximum value a ticket can reach. Courtside tickets at a basketball game naturally are more valuable than the nosebleeds. While Joe Millionaire might be happy paying out hefty premium for a great view of his team, he's not going to pay much of a premium if he must fight crazed fans who bought the ticket at face value and have an equal opportunity to sit courtside at a GA game. Admittedly, there are some simple ethics people at GA events should abide by (most of which involve very tall people wiggling their way in front of short girls who'd like to see a concert too).
posted by Ben at (0) comments 12:30 PM

 
Since I am a poster child of productivity here at RiverStone, I ended up back at my high school calculus page. (This was because a girl here that I recognize from Alvirne was also an AP Calc student, a year ahead of me). So, in my infinite wisdom, I submitted a guest problem. Of course, this problem is in the form of two limericks. Enjoy.


When Joe Physics came back from the dead
He was nursing quite a sore head.
He took a white pill
to stop feeling ill
Once its level reached half-max.
How long until Joe can relax?

What the drug level will do
Is follow four X plus two
Less x of second power.
One x is but an hour.
When will Joe again be blue?

posted by Ben at (0) comments 4:23 PM

 
Now the job search is costing me sleep. I awoke in the middle of the night, not quite worried, but disappointed and frustrated at what I perceive to be my forthcoming rejection from Alkermes. It wasn't worry, or any feeling of real urgency - clearly things that could be worked out at my desk while I print, instead of during time that I had budgeted for sleep. I know that no word has been sent, but I am last week's news. When I called on Tuesday, there were sour note's in the HR reps voice - not entirely encouraging.

I won't pester them until tomorrow, but If I receive bad news - as I expect - I will commemorate it by getting off of my butt and marching next door to Deka with a resume in hand. Their star products are a bit more mechanical than chemical, but between the dialysis machine and their stents there is a potential need for a chemical engineer. Like many great companies, they've received my resume by email and have yet to respond.

I don't take rejection personally, or at least not in a negative fashion. They can be hurtful, there’s no question there. Rejection is a signpost welcoming self-reflection and encouraging improvement. It's a swift kick in the pants to push the activity level up. When it was clear that Thermo was no longer interested in me (and I only interested in the elusive job, not with them). I made a series of sweeping revisions to my resume which were essential in attracting the attention of the folks at Alkermes. I can only imagine the improvements that I will make on my web and hard copy resumes.

I'll also reflect on the interviews, find the weak spots and retool my answers to some basic questions. Why did I become a Chemical Engineer.

Old Answer: Well, I liked chemistry and physics and thought that Chemical Engineering might be a good way to combine the two.

Pros: It's honest. I didn't go on an epic quest to become a chemical engineer. I had simply fallen in love with every science course in High School and wanted to do them professionally. My mother discouraged the idea of going Bio or Chemistry in to biotech by showing me a chart of average starting salaries. 20g for adding the engineering - hmmm.

Cons: It's sappy, based on an ignorance of the profession, and doesn't reveal to much that is positive about me as a person or an engineer.

New Answer: In high school, I was really interested in biotechnology, chemistry and physics. I just excited about science in general, but I had no real idea what an engineer did. Then I read Robert Zubrin's The CASE FOR MARS. His ideas for using what he called "gas-light era" chemical engineering to recycle air and to produce rocket fuel on Mars from local raw materials were captivating. If they could solve such interesting problems with 100 year old engineering, I could only imagine what chemical engineers could do with contemporary techniques. I basically signed on to be a chem-e then and there.

Pros: This answer is substantially more concrete, and also truthful within a small poetic license. It also indicates that I enjoy reading non-fiction and thinking about technical subjects during my free time. It shows informed decision making, and an interest in problem solving.

Cons: It pins me as a space geek. I am. I admit it. Leave me alone. It also invites the "Eat any good books lately?" question. It might be a let down if I fail to mention an equally life changing read. John Adams is good, and safe. Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order is a political hot button. Mentioning my tastes in fiction can only lead them to suspect that I am a pot smoking hippie. I am not, but share their ideas in the arts.

I will of course omit the fact that I purchased this book at Lehigh, while touring colleges with my brother shortly after I had submitted my acceptance card to CWRU with an intended major of ChemE. The book did cement my choice of majors, aside from the period of time that I toyed with joining the EMAC department.

Another question that I've contemplated is the What are you interested in? The old answer was a big spiel about how I enjoy working with materials of character - powders, polymers, non-Newtonian fluids. My new answer will be a spiel about how my interests are related more towards problems requiring creative solution than the cast of characters that creates the problem. This would have better alleviated concern that I'd miss working directly with polymers.

Both responses are truthful, and better explained using the analogy of my love for movies that mix crazy old men and kids. You can get a lot of different types of movies, from Back to the Future to On Golden Pond. Am I interested in the crazy old men? Yes, but why? It's because the crazy old man/kid conflict creates stories that are rewarding, often revealing truths about life. I'm actually more interested in the stories than in the crazy old men. It just took a potential job rejection to make me realize it.
posted by Ben at (1) comments 11:03 AM

 
"The Libertarians are coming, the Libertarians are coming" I call from my metaphorical horse as I ride through the mill yard. http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/01/free.state.ap/index.html Apparently, 20,000 motivated Libertarians have decided to move to NH in a bid to take-over the government and turn it into a "free" state. The fact that actually had a debate, and election of sorts to determine the best state boggles my mind. If they can't take over NH, they have no prayer anywhere else. Many of our republicans would pass for Libertarians in the south. We don't like taxes, laws, or "big government." We do like big legislatures, "live free or die" license plates, cold weather, and bilking the tourists. The libertarians have already won, well almost. We aren't so fond of hippies or desperados, so legalizing marijuana and non-Indian gambling might be tricky.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 2:34 PM

 
The currents of time are moving swiftly today, as if there's been a temporal rainfall. My commute was swift, and seemed even more so, as I become entranced with music and bass lines. Thump thump thump moving my air thumb and visualizing individual articulations. mute thump mute thump thump. Why is it that my air bass is almost always thumb slapping, but most of my playing is more traditional finger walking?

It wasn't bass-time dilation at work, my non-musical ascent of the North entrance stairs was surprisingly swift. It seemed like there were few moments between my entering the stairwell and stepping onto the 4th floor landing. Generally, when I start to see the Riverstone imprint I feel that I've climbed 5 or 6 floors and sigh knowing that there is one more left to climb.

Work has also been moving swiftly. I'm working with some highly advanced pen technology. The stylus is a hybrid red/blank ink pen / pencil with a gravity driven selector. It is unreal and took me a good 15 minutes to figure out. The only complaint is that the designers put the release button next to the black label, so I thought that there was a way to position the release mechanism to select the proper ink/led attachment.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 11:18 AM