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Archive for November, 2007

good news..

Posted by eric on November 20, 2007

Yesterday, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to watch the Jaguars on December 2nd, when I’m in Atlanta. So I went on jaguars.com, and posted a message on the message boards. I asked if anyone knew of a way to look up bars that have Sunday Ticket, or knew of a place to watch Jaguars games in Atlanta. Within minutes, someone posted a link to the site for the group of Jaguars fans up there, and wouldn’t you know it, they have a restaurant where they gather. So it looks like I’m set. Now I’m just hoping it’s a good game!

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tv stuff…

Posted by eric on November 19, 2007

An assortment of things that I’ll make a post out of:

  • I’m hoping I can watch the Jaguars vs. Colts game on Dec. 2nd while I’m in Atlanta. Based on the other games on CBS that day, we’ll probably be the “A” game. The problem is that CBS is the singleheader network, and the Falcons play at 1 PM on Fox. I have a feeling that CBS will then try to put their game in the other time slot in the Atlanta area. But we’ll see what happens. There’s always a sports bar.
  • Heroes tonight. WOW. I’m rather disappointed that we only have 2 more episodes, courtesy of the strike.
  • How I Met Your Mother was pretty funny. I have a feeling this will be strike-shortened as well, sad as well.

I think that’s about it for now.

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movies…

Posted by eric on November 18, 2007

I’ve now seen “Before Sunrise”. Only about 10 years late on that one. I remember people talking about it when I was a sophomore in high school, right around the time it came out. I liked the movie. It’s really easy to get into, since it’s really just a long conversation. Now, I just need to see “Before Sunset”. Only about three years behind the times there.

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shadows of 1997…

Posted by eric on November 17, 2007

So, the Miami Hurricanes are now 5-6. That’s the same record they finished with in 1997, my freshman year at UM. That year, we lost 47-0 to FSU at Doak Campbell Stadium. This year, we lost 48-0 to UVa, in the last game ever at the Orange Bowl. At least we beat FSU this year, but I don’t know what that really means. This year, we still have one game to go. Against Boston College — still one of the top teams in the country. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance we finish 5-7. Not exactly what many fans hoped for. Well, there’s always next year.

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mmm… fooooood.

Posted by eric on November 16, 2007

My girlfriend and I went to dinner tonight at a restaurant I’d been to a few times. We decided to get an appetizer, and we were choosing between some vegetable spring rolls, and a beefsteak tomato and fresh mozzarella combination. We opted for the latter, and it was a VERY good choice. It was pretty much the same as this dish, but it also had pesto spread among some of the layers. AND an onion confit in between some of the layers. Really good stuff. I mean, really good. We talked about going back and just getting one for each of us, so we’d have plenty of room for dessert (creme brulee, most likely). For another time…

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so, I’m a bit of a dork..

Posted by eric on November 15, 2007

A while ago, I discovered FlightAware. It’s a site that does some very comprehensive flight tracking — and not just of commercial flights. Punch in an airline and flight number, and you see a whole ton of data. You see a map of the flight’s route, estimated/actual arrival/departure times, equipment type, cruising altitude, and speed. You can see how the flight progressed, as far as altitude and speed. You can see the history of the flight for the past few months (actually, back to June 2005). But that’s not all! You can check flights between two cities. You can check arrivals & departures (and upcoming arrivals & departures) at a given airport. Every now and then, I’ll pull up the page for a big airport (like JFK) and listen to one of the internet streams of the air traffic control. The site gives you a bit of a visual to go with the audio. In the case of JFK, there’s usually a nice handful of JetBlue and other flights that are severely delayed. Once in a while, the site has come in handy for info at work, too. Good stuff.

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e-waste…

Posted by eric on November 14, 2007

I normally listen to NPR on my way into work, and sometimes on my way home as well. One of the programs that I usually catch is Marketplace — a look at the business world, economics, and all kinds of things. (It’s more interesting than it sounds.) Recently, they’ve been doing reports in a series called Consumed, looking at whether the current “consumer economy” is sustainable. Tonight’s report on the processing of e-waste was almost a little scary. Basically, a lot of stuff gets shipped off to China. Processors there strip out the metals, either by just hacking the parts off, or dissolving them in chemicals. Sometimes, the “chemical stew” (as they put it) just gets dumped into the soil. That mixture sometimes includes lead. The solid metals are sold to wholesalers. Sometimes those metals get used for jewelry — cheap stuff that’s sent back to the US and sold in dollar stores and the like. And sometimes those items include lead — which shouldn’t be shocking, given the recent recalls. Yikes.
I’ve at least tried to be responsible with my e-waste. When I had a computer power supply go bad a few years ago, I took it (along with an old printer) to the “hazardous materials” facility run by the city, which accepts e-waste. So now I just hope they’ve been responsible…

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good snacks…

Posted by eric on November 13, 2007

I was checking out Maura’s latest entry, which references this category of posts on notmartha.org. Basically, her “up to” posts mention what she’s reading, eating, wanting, needing, etc. I scrolled through a few posts, and came across one that mentioned Sahale Snacks. I’d forgotten about those! I used to buy them at Target a lot. I think I stopped because they aren’t exactly cheap ($5 or so for a 5 ounce bag). But they’re very good. I see they’ve now redesigned their packaging. I may pick some up the next time I’m at the store.

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more than 1/3 there…

Posted by eric on November 12, 2007

I decided to turn to the Randomizer once again, to see what people are writing about during NaBloPoMo. I came across this post which mentioned Freerice.com. I had actually seen the site a week or two ago, after finding a link on the taper boards. After reading that part of the post, I skimmed around to see what the blog was about, and noticed a reference to beer and a brewery. Somehow, that reminded me of a time about a year and a half ago when I had a chance to taste He’Brew, the Chosen Beer. Yes, sounds kinda corny, but I remember the beer being pretty decent. Amusing tidbit: it’s brewed in Saratoga Springs, NY, and if you’ve seen my Live Music page, you know that town’s significance to me. Anyway, hearing the founder’s story was interesting, and there was free beer, which was a big hit with many people in the crowd.

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a 13′ stand is really tall…

Posted by eric on November 11, 2007

A few weeks ago, I bought a light stand from someone on taperssection.com. (Tapers use light stands to mount their mics many feet up in the air.) I had been seeing a lot of 9′ stands on ebay and such. A 9′ stand is plenty tall enough for taping at clubs and such, but I wanted a taller stand for DMB concerts and similar situations. When I taped the DMB shows in Florida this year, I was clamped to a 16′ stand — I didn’t want one quite that tall. So when this 13′ stand popped up, I jumped on the deal. I had it shipped to work, and it arrived this Friday. Due to my trip to south Florida, I didn’t have a chance to take the stand out of the box until tonight. Wow. This thing is tall, and it’s built like a tank. It’s a Calumet stand, and made by Manfrotto, one of the better stand companies. And it’s air-cushioned, which is nice. At one point, I was extending it, and nearly put a hole in my ceiling. Oops. Good thing I didn’t.

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