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August 29, 2001
We're like crystal, it's not
We're like crystal, it's not easy / With your love, you could feed me / Every man, and every woman / Needs someone, So keep it coming
Lyrics copy and pasted from Neworderonline. Thanks for saving me the typing!
Hmm, no radio or CD player at work... and when the alarm clock went off this morning, I had New Order: Crystal in the CD player. So, that'll have to do. Anyway. Not too much has happened lately. Work is the usual, I still have to find an apartment in LA (long story, don't ask), and I have a small pile of e-mail at home to attend to which I've hadn't had time to answer over the last few weeks. You know who you are, and I apologize! **thinks about the three or four people he knows he's been setting aside** I've got a bunch of pictures and computer reviews to put up as well. It's not a matter of too many things to do, it's a matter of too many inter-related things to do. A simple computer case review with two power supply reviews mushroomed into two cases and four power supplies, and it may grow to three cases by this weekend. Ugh! Reading Raymond Feist hasn't helped either- I finally borrowed the first volume from Erik.
Also, our Telocity DSL at home evidently is now PacHell/SBC, er, I mean Pacific Bell DSL... but it seems the DSLAMs and DSL modems at home are still Telocity equipment. I wonder if we get upgraded to 768/128 service, or if we remain at 384/128. I'd like to know...
Posted by brian at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2001
Currently playing: Erasure - I
Currently playing: Erasure - I Love Saturday
How fitting! =) I think I've finished Gina's computer... finally. CD DAE (digital audio extraction) is working now... so I ripped 6 CD's so I could MP3 them overnight for system stress testing. Looks good so far, and LAME at 192kbps sounds better than Audioactive at 128kbps or even 192kbps. For some reason Nero is allergic to it, but Adaptec (bloatware) EZ CD Creator works just fine. Going to go look at LCD monitors for her tonight (oops, bought a Kogi/gvision 15" TFT. *drool* I WANT ONE!), I think... then I guess we'll round up everyone (as in Erik and I and whoever else is here) and go out.
Posted by brian at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)
Freaking damnit. De Anza sucks.
Freaking damnit. De Anza sucks. I checked grades on-line today at lunch... not available. Just checked now, they're out but the SYSTEM IS DOWN. Argh! I just want my one stinkin' summer grade...
Posted by brian at 02:10 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2001
Currently playing: Pet Shop Boys
Currently playing: Pet Shop Boys - A Different Point of View
Just got back from dinner with some old family friends. It's weird... all the kids (e.g. me!) are about the same age, but we haven't seen each other in 5 or 10 years. So weird... it was good though. We're all at the core the same-- which is expected, yet still strange. Although I shouldn't be talking, considering how many "old" friends I have. Pictures later... and unfortunately 2 of them left before the camera was broken out. I must be getting slow! =) Dinner was good too. Japanese from Miyake's plus some home made stuff, and yummy green tea ice cream. No real entertainment was planned, so we played 13 (Big 2)... some weird Monta Vista variant, but it worked. Poker straights threw me off pretty bad, though. Off to play video games... more later!
Posted by brian at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Information Society -
Currently playing: Information Society - What's On Your Mind
Finishing Gina's t-bird 950/512MB PC133/40GB system right now. Ugh. It's ridiculous how cheap it is to build a 1ghz box today which is as fast as the machines I built back in January for 50% more money. Dad's going to buy her a flat screen monitor too. Hmm, do I feel like I'm being shafted here? Ah well, can't complain!
Week has been uneventful, mostly. I'll post more later, but hopefully some more stuff will happen this weekend... and even if nothing happens, maybe I'll get last weekend's pictures up. =) Probably going to go up to Berkeley to drop the computer off, not sure what else is going to happen. Need to go scream at a UCLA counselor or dean or something too... I'll figure that one out. Helma's driving up to Washington right now to see a Dave Matthews Band concert... crazy girl! Nuts... at least she rented a car for once (a Maxima! =) ) still... geez... Finally, need to order wheels for my Maxima. Money is going like water over here! Definitely not a good thing!
Posted by brian at 12:31 AM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2001
Currently playing: Depeche Mode: Black
Currently playing: Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
I'll edit my post below this one tomorrow edit: post below edited!. It was supposed to be published at about 5am, but the DSL at Thomas' place died... Thursday was good, although as expected most of my friends were working and stuff which sucked. Slept on the floor of Eileen's apartment that night. Noisy place, but you can sleep really well when you're tired!
Thursday was uneventful. Remodeling at Thomas's apartment meant several abrupt awakenings from 8:30am to 12noon, not a good thing when you went to bed at 5am. Dragged my butt to UCLA to talk to a counselor, learned I need to write a letter to a committee there. Waited around for a bit to figure out what to do next, ended up hanging out with Margaret and Kimberly. They got into an apartment with another girl who was still under rent control. Lucky punks! Alicia finally fought her way through traffic, so she and I went to Johnny Rocket's in Santa Monica for dinner. We weren't sure what to eat, sort of wandered over to my car and picked a direction and drove. I dunno... for us, that seems to work! Finally met up with Barry and friends again to go to Monterey Park, then called it a night.
Today, wrote my letter and dropped it off with my counselor... then headed home. Left at 12:15, 20 minutes for gas at Buttonwillow, made it into the San Jose area around 5:30pm. Had to fight through traffic though... ugh. BTW, the Maxima gets great gas mileage around 75mph~80mph. Beyond 80mph though and hard acceleration with the AC at full blast, and gas mileage goes to hell. On the drive down to LA on Wednesday, Barry was driving from Kettleman City to LA... doing 100mph+, racing a Lexus IS300 up the Grapevine. My projected 430~450mile range on 1 tank of gas vanished into 330 miles!! =)
I'm going to go collapse into bed now. I'm not the only one who's had a good summer... Alicia's summer has been a big soap opera, or so she says, and Barry's summer has been good too, I think. I just wish I could have made my east coast visit. Ah well. In the meantime... It's good to be home... although I miss LA...
Posted by brian at 01:52 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2001
Currently playing: Linkin Park -
Currently playing: Linkin Park - some track on their 1st album...
Darned if I can remember the name. Anyway, Barry, Jimmy, Billy (one of Barry's co-workers) and I drove to LA today. The three of them are chilling, while I went to go see Depeche Mode with Thomas, Kim, Mickey, Yanson, Jackie, Tu (sp?), Billy (different one), Bao, Jason, and a few names I forget. =) It was sweet! Not as hyper/constantly-energetic as Area:One was, but it was GOOD. Depeche Mode does a very good set... great visuals-- not as good as Moby, but still very good. David Gehan did a very good job on stage, as did the rest of the group-- David Gehan and Martin Gore did most of the entertainment. It's late, so I'll add more to this later... but Enjoy the Silence, Dream On, and Black Celebration kicked *ss.
Here's what I remember...
Easy Tiger - Dream On (acoustic): moody opener. Great... but kind of a slow, dramatic intro.
The Dead of Night: the beat is reminisicent of classic Depeche Mode. We're getting iiiiiiiinnnnnnnnn to the music here!
The Sweetest Condition: More new stuff... kinda hard to get into.
Halo: the mood is still going!
Walking in My Shoes: this song kicks *ss... live... wow... crowd was going nuts!
Dream On: crowd still going nuts. Brought much needed energy along with Walking in my shoes.
When the Body Speaks: we're calming back down now... really moody again.
Waiting for the Night: Still moody. Damn good live... the visual background was awesome!!! I had chills. Wow. I don't know what's with all the sutff off Violator, though. I think this is the one with either water droplets falling or the dangling lights from the ceiling...
Sister of Night: Not sure... sorry.
Breathe: New stuff again... getting used to this... sorta.
Freelove: the crowd was going on this, singing the chorus. Hyper hyper hyper... energy!!! Wow!!
Enjoy the Silence: kicked *ss. 'nuff said. WOW... we were all going nuts.
I Feel You: (ditto)
In Your Room: Energy level is going down, but the excitement meter is still peaked. Ah yes, this is why I'm here...
It's No Good: I expected this song, but I had to wait this long for it? Still good...
I Feel Loved: Funky, catchy song. Sorry, not spine-tingling though...
Personal Jesus: set kicked butt with the lighted x's (crosses?) hanging from the stage... good song. Crazy energy.
Home: "We want Depeche Mode!" hehe... loved the chant as they came back for their encore.
Clean: Good stuff... good stuff...
Black Celebration: Oh... my... gawd... f'ing incredible. The visuals were amazing. WOW.
Never Let Me Down Again: Brought the energy level down a tad so we could all leave without bouncing off the walls. Crowd was nuts as usual.
Anyway... it kicked butt. I wish I had a program though... or shots of the visuals with each song. As it is, I only have a few... oh yeah, Staples Center is HUGE. Dropped Kim, Jason, and Mickey off... then to Denny's for food. Billy got a free bananna split because his food was so late, so we all polished that off. It was good! Jackie asked me if I was from Piedmont Middle... woah... I'd been trying to figure out if she was a familar face or not myself... turns out she is! Talk about a small world. Came back to Thomas's apartment, played Monopoly. I ended up in jail for the first couple turns so people bought up all the property and screwed me over. Doh! College-level Monopoly is vicious and short-- in under 25 turns everyone who was competitive had hotels. YIKES! Those of us without any monopolies and houses by the 20th or 25th turn were basically screwed!
Also, Tu's car got vandalized tonight, sometime after we came back from the concert. Windows and mirrors on three sides smashed, apparently nothing taken. Car behind hers had the windshield smashed as well. Ugh... I'll stay off my soapbox tonight, but this is f*cking ridiculous. I'm supposed to talk to a counselor @ UCLA regarding my summer grades sometime today (meaning Thursday), but as much as I love UCLA as a school and being with all my friends... it's the LA life which can drive me crazy. Traffic I can handle, parking drives me nuts... and car vandalism. **shudder** I dunno, I've had my car keyed several times at De Anza (f*cking pricks there too...), but this is just ridiculous. Off to bed now...
setlist from depeche-mode.com
Intro tape: Easy Tiger - Dream On (Live Instrumental Acoustic) / The Dead Of Night
/ The Sweetest Condition / Halo / Walking In My Shoes / Dream On / When The Body Speaks
/ Waiting For The Night To Fall / Sister Of Night / Breathe / Freelove
/ Enjoy The Silence / I Feel You / In Your Room / It's No Good / I Feel Loved
/ Personal Jesus
Encore:
Home / Clean
Black Celebration / Never Let Me Down Again
Posted by brian at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2001
Currently playing: Tranceport - [05]
Currently playing: Tranceport - [05] ascension - !someone (slacker + orig mix)
Depeche Mode in... uhh... about 20 hours! Gotta get to bed soon... driving down to LA with Barry, Jimmy, and 1 other person... I'm going to go see Depeche Mode, Barry and his friends will do whatever. Leaving Friday is the plan. We shall see how things go... I expect tomorrow to be a long, exhausting day!
Reminder: Link to my old blogs. I'll add a permanent link eventually... after a couple more reviews of computer bits...
Posted by brian at 01:37 AM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2001
It's Monday the 13th. According
It's Monday the 13th. According to Garfield, a superb day to stay in bed and do nothing because the world will be out to get you. I'll have to settle for hiding in my cubicle.
Posted by brian at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2001
Currently playing: M:G - Sweet
Currently playing: M:G - Sweet Honesty (Planet Hype Edit)
And some other stuff. Was switching between my Altec Lansing ADA880's and my JVC minisystem... and... yep, the JVC still sounds much better than the ADA880's. The JVC just isn't quite as loud as the ADA880's, and the ADA880's are better for movies since they're a 4.1 system.
Posted by brian at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
Karaoke last night was fun!
Karaoke last night was fun! The bar was okay-- I didn't know there were bars on El Camino Real, so close to Fremont Rd. Pretty uneventful weekend besides that, though. Dave picked up all his computer parts yesterday as well. Erik's back from his little family vacation today. Aside from those random snippets... nothing much, except for a random craving I had. First it was tacos, but then it turned into french fries. Go figure. $1.07 later I had my fries. =) It's probably a reminder from my body that two small meals of noodles and rice just aren't enough for me. Heck, I'm still wondering when's the last time I had three meals a day.
Posted by brian at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: eFINITY - track
Currently playing: eFINITY - track 10 - gouryella: gouryella
Good weekend so far... need to prioritize what I need to do this week though, aside from the usual work and stuff. New computer case review, computer power supply comparison, talk to a counselor @ UCLA, find rims for my car, lots of other minor things... Second night of a 4am bedtime for me. This can't be good, so I'm going to bed now...
Posted by brian at 04:06 AM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2001
Currently playing: Anything Box -
Currently playing: Anything Box - Lady in Waiting
Mmmmmmmmm more case modding goodness. PCMods' BayBus kit is pretty neat, but I'm appreciating my BayBus from CliffA much more now... I have spring loaded, remote terminal connections for my fans. On cases with a fixed front bezel this isn't a big issue, but on cases with a removal bezel like the Genie, it is a big deal. Still need to finish rewiring my PC and doing the Chenbro Genie writeup... hopefully I'll get to that this weekend.
Need to go find Barry or Majed or Jimmie or someone now and go out... Hmm. Both Majed's cell and Barry's cell go straight to their voicemails-- ACK! Barry's seeing American Pie 2. And they're sold out. Doh. Maybe it's time to call the Berkeley people and drive up to Cal tonight. =) Ack, need to go take care of Sherman first...
Oh yeah, I think it's time for a harddisk upgrade... 27GB isn't cutting it anymore...
Posted by brian at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2001
Currently playing: Alien Ant Farm
Currently playing: Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
Done with summer session! WOOHOO!! I think I screwed up on my econ final though (macro economics)... so instead of a high A I'll have a low A, I think. Don't pity me... I'm just whining because I know I made some obvious mistakes; I sat there and stared at 3 problems for nearly 30 minutes and that made me get nervous about a couple other answers I'd written. Both answers I changed I missed... it seems the usual "go with the first choice you made" definitely applies in econ, but not in engineering! Now if it was engineering on the other hand I'd be more than whining, I'd be scared and worried!
Waiting for Erik and Helma to call right now so we can go to lunch. I could have just gone into work right away after class ended, but I figured I'd come home and relax for a bit. Plus, Gina just got her wisdom teeth pulled, so she isn't exactly doing too well at the moment. As for tonight I guess we'll go out. Amanda's leaving tomorrow and she's still denying me a good picture of her. I guess that means I'll have to rectrify that tonight. heheheh...
Posted by brian at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2001
Currently watching: BMWFilms.com - Powder
Currently watching: BMWFilms.com - Powder Keg
Almost done studying for tomorrow... 5 pages left... and I'm dying! Argh! Someone rescue me with some coffee!
Posted by brian at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2001
Currently playing: Erasure - Perchance
Currently playing: Erasure - Perchance to Dream
Actually I hear mostly noise from my computer case.
Modded my 280cfm Genie into a 500cfm Genie for my friend Aaron, since he bought it. I also got a 500cfm Genie from jfh @ coolcases to check out his evolution in Chenbro Genie modifications in the two years that's passed since I bought mine. Anyway. It's LOUD. I haven't wired everything in a permanent setup yet either. However, case temps are within one degree Celcius of ambient temperature... wow...
Really busy weekend. Saw Rush Hour 2 on Friday night. It was hilarious. I'd definitely recommend it if you need comedy relief. Case modding took all afternoon and into the night on Saturday, plus helping Erik buy lumber for his new fence. Then I drove up to Sacramento today (Sunday) to pick up my mom and sister. (long story... short version is they were rear-ended in the 3.2TL heading up there. Fucking moronic driver probably fell asleep at the wheel and hit them) =( ... sigh... anyway that'll do for now. I'll say more later. I need to go to work in the morning and do lots of other stuff, especially since I have my final on Thursday!
Posted by brian at 01:23 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2001
Currently playing: Erasure - Star
Currently playing: Erasure - Star
All that sleep I needed after Area:One on Tuesday, that I haven't gotten yet? It's occurred to me, I can either get into work early around 10am and be done by 4pm--5pm at the latest-- or I can sleep in. Hmmmm... decisions, decisions. I just know I need to stop thinking so much about things for now (thanks Andi for reminding me of the obvious! *sigh*) and just go to bed!
Posted by brian at 01:17 AM | Comments (0)
Pearl was only half-right in
Pearl was only half-right in her writeup of Planet of the Apes. I agree with Erik, it was very well put together... but the movie reeked. I don't know if it was just ridiculously put together or what, but... yuck! The plan is to go see Rush Hour 2 tomorrow, that should be good at least. Maybe party this weekend...?
Posted by brian at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2001
Jimmie and Majed are going
Jimmie and Majed are going out without Erik and I again... dragging their butts all the way up to Concord or Alameda or wherever. I hope they're having enough fun to make ditching their old friends worthwhile! Nah, I don't think that attempt at a guilt trip is going to work. Going to go see Planet of the Apes now and hope it's only as terrible as I've heard.
Posted by brian at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
I've driven 2,000 miles in
I've driven 2,000 miles in the last month. Actually more, since that's just 2,000 miles in one car. It's probably more like 2,500 miles: a few ticks shy of 2,000 in the Maxima, at least 400 in the Saturn, and last weekened was a 100 or 150 in the TL. The sad part is, Helma probably still drives more in a month than I do...
Posted by brian at 01:13 AM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2001
Originally posted here on Ars.
Originally posted here on Ars. Here it is again... updated and stuff. =)
Well, I was just at Area:One yesterday at Shoreline in Mountain View. Got there kinda late with Amanda-- started at 3:30pm, we didn't roll in until 5pm or so. Darned meetings at work lasted until 4pm for her.
No one had posted a schedule of times and appearances by artists on the web- not an accurate one anyway- so the first order of business was to see who was performing and when. The "Focus tent" was all DJ's... Timo Maas, Paul Oakenfold, etc. Stayed there for a few minutes-- Timo Maas kicked *ss, but we were there for the main stage performances so we left. Didn't even try to see Oakenfold, the tent had to have been PACKED when he was performin. I remember him in LA... Area:One could only have been worse!
Main stage was The Roots at 5:15-6:15, New Order 6:45-7:45, Outkast 8:15-9:15, and Moby from 9:45-11:00. Rinocerose was probably before we got there... and I don't think Nellie Furtado was there, despite what the "artist page" on the website said.
I had no idea who The Roots were. We figured walking around was kinda stupid, and it turns out The Roots were pretty good. I'm not familar with them, but the stuff they played was very good. Surprising in its diversity and a DAMN good drum set. I was amazed. I wish I could say more, but I haven't looked them up yet...
New Order was next. It was creepy seeing hordes of 30+ and 40+ year old men with British accents in the crowd jumping up and down, 100x more excited than I was (and I was about ready to jump out of my skin. When I heard the opening lines to Regret I thought I was going to explode...)... anyway. New Order, as someone here said (Rex F., was it?) basically sucks live. They jumped around on stage and unfortunately all their songs were either already high-energy stuff like Bizarre Love Triangle, Blue Monday, Temptation, Touched by the Hand of God, and Regret... or it was remixed to be high-energy, like True Faith. Played some stuff off their new album too. It was good... they played for over an hour... but it all sounded the same. Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart was a NICE surprise, though. I was fully prepared to pay my $85 to see New Order and that was all... yeah, it would have been worth it ONCE to do that.
Blue Monday was their encore. It was good. Regret... I mentioned earlier. uNF. It was good. Stuff like True Faith is what was disappointing. The last song from their new album was good, earlier stuff was kinda meh. Dreams Never End (I think that's the name) was good too. The harmonica-w/piano keys kicked butt. That jumping out of my skin thing? Yeah, that again. It was sweet. Despite the overall disappointment of the set, being a New Order fan... well, I think I'm incurable!
Fortunately things only got better afterwards. Already exhausted from New Order-- jumping and yelling for an hour was tiring.
Outkast... well... WOW. Very elaborate set. Outkast and another rapper whose name I never learned were on stage, plus a huge crew. It was GOOD. Energy level was incredible. They played some crap songs (the Sarumas Jackson (sp?) song... ick) and some very good ones (Rosa Parks! Talk about old school!)... some were pretty slow, r&b type stuff too-- I didn't know Outkast or the other guy present did that.
Finally, Moby. Already tired from New Order and Outkast, I spent another hour yelling and dancing. Played some rave stuff, what sounded like Rhapsody in Blue, Body Rock, and lots of other stuff. Insane lighting and laser show work. I have a horrible memory for names, but the female singer he works with made for a few incredible songs. Moby was polite too... or maybe he was just trying to rile us up with "thank you, thank you, THANK YOU" after each song. The lines "It's a beautiful evening, so I'm going to play a beautiful song" lead to another great song whose name I can't remember either (was it that rhapsody in blue sound-alike song?)... Area:One was never spine-tingling like when I saw Erasure a few years ago... but the experience was amazing. WOW. Gotta go see Moby in concert again!
Got raped for a t-shirt afterwards too. I needed a break from my computer, car, and techie shirts... tempted to buy a New Order: Get Ready album t-shirt, but they were out of stock of XL and the Area:One road sign shirt was much more colorful. $27 for a stinkin' 2-color shirt from New Order, or a full-color shirt from Area:One? =P And I'm gonna see Depeche Mode in 2 weeks... shoot.... I think I may die from exhaustion.
Hmm, I wonder if Amanda is still deaf from last night... at least her time in San Jose was fun. I hope!
Off to pick up my little sister from dance lessons.
Posted by brian at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
Ugh... waiting for my little
Ugh... waiting for my little sister to finish with the bathroom. I can ramble on about the fact that my room is a complete pigsty right now with computer parts (just got a new case), CDs, my t-shirt I bought at Area:One, and stuffed animals I brought out for my little cousins right now. I'll try to clean it up by the weekend.
Posted by brian at 12:58 AM | Comments (0)
Area:One kicked butt. Thanks Amanda
Area:One kicked butt. Thanks Amanda for going with me! (I hope your first New Order experience wasn't too traumatic... and yes, New Order evidently still sucks live. Oh well!). Anyway I need to go to bed. Exhausted.
Posted by brian at 12:49 AM | Comments (0)