First Live Performance!

So, our band's first official live performance is tomorrow evening. Looks like about 75 people are planning on attending - that's a bigger crowd than I expected... We're mostly ready, though. We sure aren't perfect, but I don't think we're going to get much better without devoting much more time to this. Especially me... I seem to be unable to hit certain notes reliably - it's always the same damn notes that I hit flat. Ah well, perhaps the energy of the performance will make it less noticeable :)

For equipment, I've got my Shure SM75 mic, a POD X3, my crappy-but-I-like-it Epiphone Special II guitar (hey, it was cheap!), and a borrowed Gibson amp (not sure what the model is). Been spending quite a bit of money on equipment, but I hope to be able to continue this as a side hobby for a while longer. Once I get my macbook from work, I'll start messing around with recordings at home, too. After this performance is done, we're talking about getting more serious with the original stuff and moving away from covers. Who knows what style we'll end up with. Personally, I think my voice is much better suited either for a more folky sound or a more bluesy/funky sound. Straight up rock is definitely a stretch for me, but I think I've gotten a little better at it.

But, for tomorrow's performance, here's the set list:

Interstate Love Song by STP
Maybe Tomorrow by Stereophonics
Plush by STP
Sweet Surrender (original instrumental)
Hurt by Nine Inch Nails
Alive by Pearl Jam (acoustic arrangement)
Tears in Rain (original, guitar solo)
Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
Creep by Radiohead
Say It Ain't So by Weezer

That's a whole lotta Rock Band songs :P

Car Dilemma

So, I just dropped my car off at the shop because it was getting to the point where I couldn't ignore the problems anymore (mainly the fact that my brakes were starting to go). I hadn't brought it in in years because, well, I stopped really driving much about 2 years ago, and even back then it was overdue.

While the various issues are of varying importance (the brakes being the most important, with other issues like needing a clutch replacement, new belts, new struts, etc etc.), the total for all the repairs is $4600. Now, my car is a 95 Civic hatcback, probably worth less than that. Other than the current mechanical issues, the car is in apparently good shape (no structural issues, no problems with the engine itself, etc). So, my current dilemma is this: do I pay for the repairs? Or do I just pay for the really critical stuff so I can drive it home and then buy a new car?

Currently, my running favorite is the Honda Fit (sorry eingy and Seppo :P). It's cheap, it's got good fuel economy, and it is apparently actually fun to drive. But even that is about $14K~$15K. I can certainly afford it (though it puts a dent in my downpayment for a house...), but the question is - do I *need* a new car. On one hand, my Civic will likely last for another few more years. On the other hand, the car is 14 years old and has put in its time. Should I donate the old girl and get a new one? Or should I just stick with it?

Inconsequential Conspiracry Theory part 247

So, I've been using one of those Gillette Fusion razors (you know, the one that vibrates and has 5 friggin' blades) that I got as a stocking stuffer present last Christmas. To be honest, it's not *that* much of an improvement over the Mach 3, but the vibrating blade does make it feel like it's doing more...

But that's not the point of this post. Since it has a rotor inside, it does, of course, require batteries. Or, a battery, I should say. A single AAA battery is used to power the thing and it even has a little battery power indicator light built into the side to let you know when it's running low on juice. But that's where my little conspiracy theory comes into play.

After using it for a few months, the battery indicator light started flashing. A couple weeks after that, in the middle of usage, the razor started to slow down, then eventually died. Well, I was in the middle of shaving and was in the shower (I have sensitive skin, so shave in the shower) so I couldn't very well just walk out of the shower just to replace the battery. So, instead, I decided to try and take the battery out and put it back in, just for the hell of it. Weird thing happened - despite the fact that the razor had actually *died* on me, it sprang back to life and the indicator light stopped flashing.

And the razor worked without a battery replacement for another 2 months. Just the other day, it happened again - the razor slowed down, then eventually stopped. I tried the same trick again. It sprang back to life and has been fine ever since.

I could understand if the indicator light was simply meant to start flashing when it felt a significant enough drop in power from the battery or whatever, but what really weirded me out was the fact that it actually slowed down as if it was running out of power, then would stop working until I opened it up, and went through the motions of replacing the battery. Maybe Gillette has some deal with the battery companies to help boost AAA battery sales... o_O

Since Everyone Loves Lists

Hapacheese's List of Top 10 Overrated Movies (IMO) That I've Ever Seen. Oh, and spoilers, duh.

Donnie Darko:
Had some great imagery. A great song (Gary Jules' rendition of "Mad World" is even better than the original). Solid acting. But I simply didn't connect with the story. I had heard from so many people how great the story was, how deep and moving it was, how it made you think, etc, but after watching it, all I could think was, "Okay, he was schizophrenic. How sad." I know I'm missing something, but it didn't intrigue me enough to go back and rewatch it to figure it out.

Titanic:
I even waited until all the hype died down to watch this. I refused to watch it amidst all the fervor, feeling that it would taint my opinion. Yes, the sets were epic. But the story was so predictable and the characters so run of the mill (and despite the fact that I think Decaprio is actually a decent actor, *anyone* could have done that role) that I couldn't find anything that elevated this movie above every other bodice-ripper equivalent. What was it about this movie, other than the simple cultural momentum it gained through marketing, that made it so successful? The mind boggles.

Grease:
Heresy! I know. But I've attempted to watch this movie at *least* 5 times, but have been bored out of my mind every time. I actually like musicals (hell, I've even been in one). I loved Moulin Rouge (though I'm sure there are others out there who would put it on their own list of overrated movies). But I found the characters vapid (I know that was intentional to a degree), I didn't really enjoy the music, and that pretty much kills my interest in it. Sorry eingy :P

Gone With the Wind:
This one's a little odd, I suppose. I probably don't have the proper context to actually understand the significance of this movie. I watched it and didn't find it terribly entertaining. On the other hand, I've watched other classic movies and been greatly entertained - this one, not so much. I know it is meant to capture the lives of individuals, but the movie, for me, feels too clausterphobic (it's hard to describe it). It never feels like the events in the movie matter, perhaps because I never really grew to care for the characters.

Raiders of the Lost Ark:
I know this is heresy for geeks. I'm not saying it's not a good movie - just not sure this is the be all end all of action/adventure movies. There are parts of the movie that feel disjointed, and overall, the movie feels very uneven, quality-wise. A lot of people like it more than Last Crusade, perhaps because Last Crusade feels more Hollywood and less pulpy, but I enjoyed it much more. It had all the elements of Raiders - mythology, adventure, romance, Nazis - but in a much tigher package.

Little Miss Sunshine:
Perhaps this was just a case of unfortunate timing on my part. See, there was a little known movie released a little bit before called "Everything is Illuminated." It was a beautifully quirky, funny, and gut-wrenchingly sad movie. The trailer featured the song "How it Ends," by the Devotchkas, which really captured the feel of the movie. It wasn't actually used *in* the movie, but having seen the trailer, I downloaded it on iTunes. When I went to watch Little Miss Sunshine, having heard all the hype, it didn't help that the opening theme was the exact same song. So, I expected the same sort of emotional rollercoaster... which never really materialized for me. It was a charming road movie, but it never went beyond that for me. Had I been in a different mindset (maybe this one warrants watching again, if I ever get around to it), I may have had a different opinion, but I remembered finishing this movie and being extremely disappointed.

Mystic River:
Right after I finished watching this movie, I remembered thinking it was great. Yet those feelings quickly slipped away over the following days and then I realized that I could hardly even remember what the movie was even *about*. But that seems to be the case with most people. It was extremely hyped when it came out, then it seemed to completely disappear from the collective conscience.

Scream:
Quit possibly the most crystal clear experience I've had with dealing with an overrated movie. Everyone around me would not stop praising this movie - talking about how great and scary it was. I broke down and watched it finally. See, for better or worse, I've been watching slasher flicks and horror flicks for as long as I can remember. Since I was at least 5 or so. I also grew up listening to, reading, and watching Japanese gothic horror - stuff that is on a completely different level of f'ed up. So when I watched Scream, I could appreciate the satirical nature of it, but it felt like the movie couldn't decide if it wanted to be ironically self-acknowledging and campy, or if it wanted to be scary. In the end, it didn't do either.

A Beautiful Mind:
On one hand, this movie is par for the course with November/December Hollywood releases. That's "We're Shooting for an Oscar" territory. So, when you go in with the understanding that you'll get some overacting, you'll get someone who is mentally challenged, etc, it's not a horrible movie. It's just, well, so very average. Yet, it won a ton of Oscars. I like Russell Crowe as an actor when he's used properly. I love Jennifer Connelly (and any guy who says otherwise needs to turn in their Man Card). Yet, there was no chemistry between them whatsoever. None. It's a very polished and well-made movie, but it feels as if it has no soul.

Shrek:
This one is pretty much for Shrek 1 and 2 combined. The first Shrek was... entertaining. It was the first non-Pixar CG movie that I think was at least half-decent, but the acting was horrible and a lot of the jokes fall flat. Shrek 2 was saved *only* by Puss in Boots - you couldn't help but feel that Antonio Banderas was actually having fun playing that character. Take him out, and you've got a relatively bland movie with maybe one or two decent jokes. Again, since this is a list of movies that are overrated and not necessarily movies that sucked, while I was mildly entertained by the first one, the fact that it's one of the highest grossing CG movies of all times is mind boggling.

Dear GOD, American airline companies suck

Okay, rant time (followed by some doom and gloom speculation...)

So, I've had a streak of bad luck with airlines lately. On my way back from Europe on US Airways (a Star Alliance airline), I was faced with a 3.5 hour delay in Philly (which started off as less than a 2 hour delay, then continually got delayed by 20 minute increments for the next 1.5 hours), my luggage ended up getting completely covered in olive oil from someone else's luggage (which wouldn't have happened if they had actually checked my baggage as priority baggage as they were supposed to, since I'm a Gold Member, but the lady at the check-in counter was on the phone the entire time we were checking in and missed it), etc etc.

Last Friday, I decided to reserve a ticket down to LA from San Francisco using a voucher I got from United (also Star Alliance). I did the entire transaction on the phone since their online system wouldn't allow me to use the voucher. At the end of the conversation, the ticketing person tells me that I then had 24 hours to get to SFO to hand in my voucher in person, otherwise the hold on my tickets would be released and I would lose them. There was no way for him to redeem my voucher via the phone. And this was at 10pm on Thursday - too late for me to take the morning off. I still managed to make it before the ticket counter closed and thought everything was fine.

And this evening at 9pm, less than 24 hours before my flight is supposed to leave, I get a message telling me that my flight is canceled, and that they have automatically put me on the next available flight - leaving at 10pm. Problem is that I had already made dinner plans and whatnot. I called up their customer service to make them do *something* about it. Their only other suggestion was to offer me a 2pm flight. And no matter how many times I told them that I have to work, they didn't seem to understand. *I* finally suggested allowing me to fly (at their cost) on a different airline (and they quickly claimed there were none available), after which point I suggested leaving from a different airport. That worked.

However, when I requested that my *return* flight *also* be changed to return to the same airport (since I would be leaving my car at the parking lot), they told me that I would have to pay a $100 change fee, since it is a "voluntary" change. I explained 4 times very slowly that it was not a voluntary change - I had made plans based on the fact that I was going to arrive in LA before 8pm, and could not change them. And since it would cost me $90 to take a taxi from SFO to San Jose airport to get my car (not to mention I had a late flight and it would mean I wouldn't get home until 1am on Monday morning), it was ridiculous for them to expect me to pay that out of pocket.

I requested to speak to a manager and was told that the manager would tell me the same thing. I asked again and again and told them that I was not going to get off the phone until someone helped me, she finally put me on hold and then changed my return flight for free.

The whole transaction took over an hour.

What the hell is up with this? And they wonder why American airline companies are having so much trouble making money?? It's because nobody expects them to actually live up to any of their promises and their customer service is crap. Which means nobody will pay anything more than bargain prices.

But that sort of brings me to my next question: what's going to happen to the airlines? I've read numerous articles that say American airline companies (except for Southwest) cannot actually turn a profit unless oil is <$80 a barrel (last time it was this cheap was apparently last summer.) Even Richard Branson, head of Virgin Group, says that there will be tons of top airlines closing their doors in the next 12 months. What's going to happen if that comes to pass? That means significantly less business travel, significantly less tourist travel, etc. I don't even want to think about the economic consequences that this would have.

This just makes the fuel issue in the US even more frustrating. There are still people who refuse to accept the fact that we have to change our consumption habits. There are *very* reasonable alternatives to cars in the US; airplanes, not so much.

Ah, Paris

It's strange. Of all the beautiful places we visited during our romp through Europe, of all the wonderful sights we saw, I find myself missing Paris the most. It's not that I had the most *fun* in Paris - no, each place we visited was wonderful in its own way and I was immensely glad to have gone to each and every place. But there was just something about the first days of our trip that have left an impression on me.

When we arrived in Paris in the morning, I was extremely stressed. It was the first 2 week vacation I had ever taken, so I was naturally worried about work. I had convinced myself to leave my Blackberry off until I was confident I could ignore it unless I needed to email someone (since I didn't have regular wi-fi access to use my iPod) but it was much like riding a bike for the first time without training wheels. I haven't been addicted to my Blackberry in a long time, but the idea of not checking work email for so long was scary.

On top of that, it was my first time in many, many years being in a country where I wasn't fluent in the native language. The only exception to that was my brief jaunt in China 2 years ago, but even then I was so insulated from everything around me (having spent 95% of my time trapped in the office or being shuttled from location to location) that it hardly mattered that I didn't speak Chinese. But this was Paris. I'd heard horror stories (and other stories that contradicted those stories, to be sure) about how Parisians reacted to Americans, particularly those that didn't speak French.

The final straw was simply the utter lack of sleep I was suffering by the time of my arrival. I have a chronic problem of being unable to sleep on planes, so by the time I arrived in Paris, I was running on 24 hours of no sleep (not to mention feeling utterly nasty from the recycled air of the airplane).

So, with phrasebook nervously clutched in hand, we set out to find the Eurorail information booth to get our passes validated. The experience did not go so well. He did not speak much English and I could hardly understand what he said. We made it to Paris unscathed, but had to transfer to another train to get to our exit. Having been spoiled by the Japanese transit system, I was utterly shocked at how difficult it was to find any sign that indicated where we were supposed to go. After asking around, we finally found our line and made it with little incident (except we didn't realize we could just walk out of the station without inserting our ticket into a machine, so we stood at the exit looking for a place to insert the ticket... the attendant just came out and opened the door for us.)

The rest of the day was equally exhausting, but increasingly exciting. I found that my pronunciation of French was good enough for people to understand with little problem (though I still couldn't understand a word of anything anyone was saying) and I could tangibly feel my confidence rising. By the time we got back to our hotel and crashed for the night (I use the word "night" here loosely, since it was only about 7:30 when we went to sleep...), I was immensely satisfied with the way things had gone.

Fast forward to the next morning, and having slept nearly 11 hours, I was fully rested and ready to take on the city. The first item on our agenda was the Eiffel Tower, so we hopped back on the subway and made our way there. We found a quaint little cafe (that looked like it got its fair share of tourists, given that the menus were all available in English) that sat in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, across the street from what looked to be a schoolyard.

It was that moment that I miss. The stresses of the previous day made me completely forget about work and my level of confidence had risen to the point where I was little worried about the rest of the trip. Instead, I chose to relax and take in the atmosphere and revel in the fact that we were there. The breakfast (seen in this picture)we had was extremely simple - a croissant (which was delicious), half a baguette with jam and honey, a large cup of cafe creme, and a glass of orange juice. Quite possibly due to its simplicity, it was thoroughly enjoyable. We were in no rush to get anywhere (since we could see the Eiffel Tower was only about 10 minutes away on foot) so we took our time and enjoyed the beginning of our first full day of vacation.

Of course, by the end of our trip, we were thoroughly exhausted and couldn't wait to get back home to our furry-ridden sanctuary, looking back on it all, that morning in Paris was *exactly* what I was hoping this vacation to be.

Meme-y

Step forward one step if:

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Had or will have less than $5000 in student loans when you graduate
Had or will have no student loans when you graduate
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs*
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs*
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

A couple of caveats/explanations:
- My great grandfather was a physician, but passed away before I was born. Not sure if that counts.
- I'm actually not sure what percentage of college my parents paid for. My first year and a half at college were heavily subsidized by my parents, and the VA paid for a big chunk of my tuition. But after my parents fell on hard times (divorce, etc), I paid for most of it by myself, with the occasional help. Not sure how that breaks down.
- I had a car in high school that wasn't a hand-me-down from my parents, but a hand-me-down from my brother... And it was bought for like $2K. Ended up costing me 3 times that much in upkeep over the next few years, though. So, the fact that my brother went through multiple cars makes me think I should bold that one, but not sure.


We were relatively well off for a good portion of my younger life, but it was also partially because my father liked to live beyond his means. It eventually caught up with us and made things difficult, but I can't honestly say I've ever *truly* been poor, though I've been through some pretty desolate times.

I think my children will be able to mark off a few more things than I have on the list, but who knows.

Gas Con't

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but felt I had to continue.

Gas price at local Chevron as of Friday, June 13: $4.55/gallon

So, within the span of 18 days, gas prices have jumped $0.43/gallon. A 10.4% increase in the span of less than a month. How lovely.

In other news, been cleaning out my cubicle at work in preparation for the big move (we're changing buildings). I finally decided to toss all those years old documents that served no purpose other than "just in case" and for nostalgia's sake. It's amazing how much crap you can accumulate over the years. But of course, the day that I decide to tear through all my confidential paperwork, the shredder bins are missing. So I'm left with a giant mound of papers sitting on the floor in my cubicle. Fun.