The Importance of Being Tidy

Posted on 30th November 2010 in Something Daily

I’ve decided on my Secret Santa contribution. Rather, London came up with an idea and I decided on it. Since my giftee is a lawyer, London came up with the awesome idea of a custom name placard to sit on his desk with a funny phrase or quote or something underneath. My giftee is known to be familiar with Arrested Development, so I’m thinking about some different law-related quotes from Bob Loblaw or Tobias. So it would be the guy’s name (Matthew _______) in big type, and then smaller type underneath saying something clever. Some that I’m tossing around:

  • Analrapist
  • Why should you go to jail for a crime someone else noticed?”
  • No Habla Español

I can’t decide. It’ll come to me though. I’m leaning toward No Habla Espanol, because it seems like the safest and also most recognizable reference to Bob Loblaw out of the three.

It’s been two whole days since we all returned from Thanksgiving break, and already the kitchen is a horrible place. I knew upon cleaning it top-to-bottom the night before break that this would happen. I just found a half stick of butter that had been sitting on top of the microwave since last night, open and melting. Am I the only one to whom this makes no sense? Obviously not, but it can seem that way. This may seem a bit obsessive, but I really do think it’s important to have a tidy space in which to live. I think (and Eric agrees with me here) that your space acts like a mirror to your mind, and vice versa. That is, if your mind is fragmented, your space will be messy, and if you’re untidy, it can lead to anxiety and mental clutter. At least that’s how I see it. It’s not that I try to be incredibly organized and uncluttered in my spaces, it’s just that it feels completely wrong to me if I’m not. It’s not even an effort, it’s just the way I have to live. That said, I think there are definitely positive aspects to my compulsive need to clean.

Some miscellany:

  • I’m listening to the Octopus Project. If you like electronic music, check them out! Their album Hello Avalanche is what got me into electronic music.
  • This is a cool audio transcoding tool that was recommended to me. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks very useful.
  • Found this sweet T-shirt company on Anamanaguchi’s twitter.
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Lord of the Cheese

Posted on 29th November 2010 in Something Daily

So I’m back in the New York again, this time with a disgusting cold that I picked up in Downingtown. I got about 5 hours of sleep last night after laying in bed for an hour not sleeping, so I feel pretty awful today. Lots of tissues and jackets, for sure. I’m getting really good at Bach’s 8th Invention on piano, though, as that’s one thing that it’s easy enough for me to do even in my current state. I actually just got kicked out of one of the studios because apparently my practicing was too loud. I’m still going to classes today, even though I completely don’t feel like it. It’s ok, Mondays are my easiest days. I’m going to keyboard harmony in a few minutes, and then it’s back to my dorm to do some laundry and sleep.

I learned a lesson about Windows Media Player yesterday. Noticing that my book of Bach’s inventions came with a CD, I wanted to put them on my iPod. My laptop doesn’t have a working optical drive, though, so I had to use my family’s desktop (which runs Windows 7 and doesn’t have iTunes installed). Instead of installing iTunes, I saw that WMP can rip from CDs too, so I just did that. Turns out, though, the format they rip to isn’t one that iTunes supports! So I had to use VLC to convert them to .mpg, which is still not very well supported by iTunes (you can’t make AAC versions or apply album art). It’s really dumb, and I should have just brought the CD back to the city with me. Anyway, lesson learned. And I have the recordings, it just required a lot of manual transcoding on my part.

Lord of the Rings is awesome. I just watched the first two-and-a-half movies this weekend and they are still so good. I did notice, though, that after just eight years they’re already starting to show their age. The CGI and greenscreen effects are obvious and clunky in a lot of instances, and there are a lot of sets (Isengard at the beginning of ROTK, Fangorn forest interior, etc.) that look totally fake. I love these movies to death, but I really think they’re going to be complete cheese in a decade or two. Even compared to something that’s visually top-of-the-line today (hate to say it, but Avatar), they’re already clumsy and artificial looking. I mean, we’ll see. I love Lord of the Rings so much, don’t worry. It’s just an observation.

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They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

Posted on 27th November 2010 in Something Daily

I’m still at home, which means not much is getting accomplished. Other than practicing and slowly but surely mastering Bach’s 8th Invention, I’m not doing a whole lot of anything over Thanksgiving break. I did finally get my secret santa match yesterday after a longish delay, apparently the matching process was taking an especially long time to run. After being matched, I have my work cut out for me. I’ll have to find an appropriate gift for this guy despite the fact that he’s only ever made seven reddit comments and one post, and lists three interests on his profile. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something though. It’ll just be interesting.

I’ve been reading up on designing and building computers recently, and I plan on building one of my own next time I need an upgrade. Unfortunately, that’ll be a while, since I just got my MBP last December. It’s fun to look at parts, though.

I’m going out now to have an all-day Lord of the Rings marathon. I’m really excited, haven’t seen those movies in ages. Because this is what a break from school is all about: not doing anything and enjoying it.

Here’s Tim and Eric, the best IRL trolls I’ve ever seen.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey-Sy4Qh8vI&fs=1&hl=en_US]

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Happy Thanksgiving, and hi secret santa!

Posted on 25th November 2010 in Something Daily

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving today (if you’re in the US (who am i kidding, right? (How do you like my use of nested parentheses?))). My relatives are all in town today and I haven’t gotten a single thing done – which is what Thanksgiving is for, I suppose. Actually I did – I started learning Bach’s 8th invention this morning and I’m decently good at it already. It’s going well. And now I’m watching Rocky III and redditing intensely. Speaking of, my Secret Santa assignment comes soon! I’ll post the thought processes and gift ideas, of course!

I saw this thread on reddit yesterday and wanted to follow up on the “pics or it didn’t happen” idea, so here’s my contribution.

I don’t feel like writing, but I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving. (And if you’re reading because you got me for secret santa, welcome! Feel free to read and comment!)

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mc chris owns

Posted on 24th November 2010 in Something Daily

UPDATE: Here’s some video for you.

mc chris on Emma Watson (NSFW)

mc chris – Fett’s Vette

And here’s Justin with his gift from mc – looking very happy about it

I’m once again on a bus to Philadelphia, this time for a little more than a weekend. I’m listening to Illmatic by Nas and feeling pretty good. We just came out of the tunnel about two minutes ago actually, so this trip is just starting. Unlike last time, though, I have internet connectivity, which means that I can update as I’m moving through time and space (I don’t have an iPhone or anything, so this is still exciting for me).

Being in this type of mood is once again helping me realize the importance of taking care of myself. It’s easy to forget when you’re in school and living with a bunch of your friends, but it’s important to have a good diet and get sleep and exercise. Apart from the obvious health benefits, it’s become apparent to me that these behaviors can actually make you happier – at least they do for me. I notice that after a few days of not eating many (any) vegetables or fruits, I start being tired all the time and kind of depressed. Same thing with lack of sleep, although that may be a bit more obvious. But I had a good night last night: I cleaned the kitchen and had a great discussion with my roommate London, I woke up to my awesomely clean kitchen, packed a bag, and left for the bus. Take care of yourself, ok guys? Seriously, it’s rad.

London told me last night that when he reads Three Stegosaurus Moon, he can tell which posts I wrote because I had something to say and which ones were a result of me feeling like I had to post something. Yeah, that can happen when you require yourself to write daily updates. I’m getting better at it though – it’s just funny.

Oh yeah, I went to this show last night…it was pretty cool, you know. We got to the Knitting Factory in time to see the second opening act, some nerd rappers named MC Lars and YTCracker. They were actually pretty hilarious – very energetic stage presence, unlike mc chris himself. It was quite an experience to see “the voice” in person, and pretty weird to see that high squeaky little voice coming out of a person who looked like the Frodo of Jersey. He was so unbelievably funny, though – his stage banter largely consisted of hollered rants about Call of Duty: Black Ops and Hermione Granger. At one point, he even stopped in the middle of a song (pressed pause on his acappella on iTunes, that is) to break up a dispute that was starting in the front row – the music just stopped and he started telling this guy in the audience to get out. I’ve never seen anybody do that before, but it worked – the guy left. Anyway, something about the combination of his ridiculous voice and insane enthusiasm made the time between songs my favorite part of the show. That said, he did a bunch of great songs. Highlights for me were the alternate version of “Fett’s Vette”, “Drinkin’ Blunts, Smokin’ Forties”, and “Fuckin’ Up My Christmas”, which he closed with. And at the end of the show, he pulled out a big cardboard box filled with action figures, lego sets, and Iron Man masks and started tossing them to people in the audience. I came within a hair’s breadth – a hair’s breadth – of grabbing one of the bigger lego sets, but failed. And of course Justin got a Wolverine action figure from mc chris. Still, a fun show, and well worth the money. See mc chris!

I took a bunch of video at the show, highlights being “Fett’s Vette” and mc’s description of Emma Watson. Unfortunately, my camera is currently in the cargo area on this bus, and I’m in the people area. So I’ll post now and put up the video a little later, when I get home. And I got a picture of Justin’s haul. Check in this afternoon for the video!

Here’s a shirt I found that combines two wonderful things into one. Battlestar Muppets.

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Everywhere I Go I Own

Posted on 23rd November 2010 in Something Daily

I’m going to see mc chris in Brooklyn in a few minutes. I don’t know what it’s going to be like yet, but I’m definitely excited. I’ll write about it for sure, of course. I don’t know if he’ll be doing older stuff, or some things off of his new albums. I just hope he does some of the ones I like. But either way, it’ll be interesting to see what a show of his is actually like – he’s kind of mythological to me, like he doesn’t really exist. I guess I’ve felt that way about a lot of bands before I saw them. It’s a function of listening to music without knowing that much about the people who made it. It’s often startling to see these people in the flesh when you’re so used to your mental picture of them that you constructed from their music. It’s similar to when a movie comes out based on a book that you know really well. You’ve figured out all the characters and settings for yourself, and then you’re looking at another person’s interpretation of them in the movie, and it doesn’t necessarily match your original conception. Anyway, mc chris seems like he’s the man, and I am very excited to see him in person.

I started researching some resources today for building computers from scratch. I found a nice resource in Tom’s Hardware – there’s a lot of great information for beginner PC builders there. I learned exactly what components are necessary for a PC to work – motherboard, storage, memory, video and sound cards, power supply, etc. I’m definitely considering building my own the next time I need a new computer. The only thing is that it seems pretty tough to build one that Mac OS X will run on, since Macs use proprietary hardware that can’t be found anywhere else. Still, I’m investigating it, though it’s pretty likely that were I to build my own computer, it would run Ubuntu and/or Windows.

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Chrono Trigger looks like an awesome game

Posted on 22nd November 2010 in Something Daily

Check it out: I’m listening to Aesop Rock right now, because I’m just in that kind of mood. The album None Shall Pass is definitely cool, Eric hit me with it not long ago. I love the song “Catacomb Kids”, as well as the title track. He’s got a real dark vibe going on – I’m not usually so into it, but it’s really fitting for tonight.

As far as I’m concerned, right now the school week is over, as all of my work is done, I’m seeing mc chris tomorrow, and then on Wednesday morning I’m getting on a bus. I’m hoping Thanksgiving is good, guess we’ll see about that.

I had a Thanksgiving dinner last night in Brooklyn. It was great to meet a bunch of people and eat some amazing homecooked food (thanks Dave, Andy, Declan, Lou, Kenny, and Meghan!). And then I get to do it all again on Thursday! Thanksgiving is good. And hopefully I’ll get to see everyone I want to see, and maybe have time to do a project. We’ll see if I can find some wood to build something out of. That would be rad.

You know what? Here’s the code for “esync”, the rsync alternative I wrote in Perl this past week. Why? Because I must.

Yeah check out my awesomely redundant variable names. You can use this if you care to, it’ll search the directory you give it as the first argument and copy all of its files and subdirectories to the directory specified in the second argument.

It just occurred to me: who in the world do I think the target audience is here? Probably myself, as it turns out.

Here’s an incredible short story I read today. Check it out, it’s nuts.

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Thanksgiving Comes Early

Posted on 21st November 2010 in Something Daily

I woke up this morning and bought an mc chris ticket for Tuesday! I’m really excited for this show, even though I know it might be sort of lame. I just want to see mc chris in person – that’s really what it boils down to. I’m not going to listen to his new stuff yet, though. I want to be surprised. Actually right now I’m listening to Broken Bells, which is an awesome album, as it turns out. It’s the singer from the Shins and Danger Mouse together writing and playing awesome music that sounds a lot like the Shins but somehow way cooler. Check it out!

While I’m on the subject of awesome things, how about Swingers? I just watched it for the first time in a while last weekend with Eric and London, and it’s just as fantastic as it ever was. Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are in it, and they’re both pretty hilarious. Plus the movie has a really effective message about relationships. I was going to connect this to something in my life, but as it turns out, I already forgot the connection.

I had another session last night with London and Davis. Their song is really coming together nicely, I heard the bounce this morning. Last night I assisted the tracking of drums and bass – the session guys they managed to find were incredible. Especially the drummer (Jamie ___?) – he was like a machine. You could give him any pattern to play and he would just play it right back to you. Exactly what a session musician should be. It’s funny to think that I used to want to be a session pianist. Dream big, right? By the way, I’ll see if I can post/link to the final mix of this song that they/we are working on when it’s finished. It’s sounding really good at this point.

Josh just came over for a few minutes, and somewhere amid our talk about computers, he told me that I was “that guy”, indicating that he sees me as a person with a varied set of skills. At least, that’s how I took it. He mentioned computers and music, and how good he thinks I am at video games. I just wanted to say

Thanks again, Josh. You made my day.

I’m going to Thanksgiving dinner in Brooklyn tonight! Dave and his roommates are hosting, and it’ll be a rad rockin time! I haven’t been over there in a while, and Dave and his roommates are all great guys. Plus I haven’t seen Kenny in ages, that’ll be fun. And then school tomorrow…oh yeah. No worries.

So I’m going to go write some music and maybe draw a pretty picture. Here’s real, actual footage from when the periodic table had a dance party.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBCmt_pJTRA&fs=1&hl=en_US]

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Turns out Steam games come with a bunch of raw content

Posted on 20th November 2010 in Something Daily

Hello everyone, welcome back to another exciting edition of Three Stegosaurus Moon. We’ve got a great post planned for you today. It has it all. Even dinosaurs.

After a few days of me being mentally elsewhere due to this project that I won’t shut up about, I have returned. I woke up this morning without feeling the uncontrollable urge to start coding and solving problems. I slept in (until 8:45…late, huh?), had a nice long stretch, made myself some breakfast, and have so far had a very relaxing morning. I think I’m going to avoid skating today, in light of what happened last time I did. The scratch on my arm is healing, but it still looks pretty gross. I catch people staring at it sometimes…my eyes are up here, okay?. I believe I’m going to do almost nothing today, as I feel like I deserve it due to the big amount of concentrated effort over the last few days.

Let me just say one last thing about my esync/backup project. Writing a Perl script that recursively traverses directories and copies their contents is something that I didn’t think I could do four days ago. In a way, I still don’t believe that I can. Yet somehow I managed to do it – within the space of three days – and it works exactly the way I intended it to. I must be getting better at programming, or something. I just wanted to make it known that I, Emmett J. Butler, am proud of myself. For once.

As you may know, my roommate London had a recording session for his class last night on which he asked me to assist. The first thing I found out was that the Clive Davis studios are way nicer than the average Music Tech studio. Everything is just cleaner and bigger, and in better condition. But not to compare the two programs or anything. They’re completely different.

The session was to track a woodwind/brass section for London’s hip hop track, which involved seven musicians playing live. So we had lots of mics, gobos, and headphones for everybody. I’ve never engineered a session with that many people on it before, and it really drove home the point that to make one of them work, you have to know exactly what to say to the musicians to get the best performance. It’s like you’re putting on a disguise every time you hit the talkback button. The session was great, and I ended up assisting in a pretty big capacity.

I made the discovery last night that every game you download on Steam uses an unencrypted directory full of the media such as videos, audio and textures that it needs to function. I stumbled on this folder last night during a backup, and literally everything from the games is there in raw form. Every Team Fortress 2 map video, every zombie scream and gun sound effect from Left 4 Dead, the Portal song, everything. It’s just there, in .wav or .mp4, for the taking. I don’t know what I’ll do with this knowledge, if anything, but it’s crazy to see. You definitely don’t get that with a console game.

Check out what I found. I know somebody who’d eat The World’s Largest Gummi Worm (hint: it’s Andrew)

Dinosaurs.

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Programming is Tiring

Posted on 19th November 2010 in Something Daily

Ok, before you say anything…I know I missed a day yesterday. I try not to let that happen very often, but I got a little (read quite) carried away yesterday with coding. This has happened before: I get an idea for a program in my head and I can’t stop myself from working on it until it’s finished. It happened with the mouse game I made for CS 101, and with parts of the space dinosaur game I’m currently working on. Never, though, have I been this singularly obsessed with one goal in programming (or most other aspects of my life, come to think of it). This started a few days ago when I almost lost the code for that very space dinosaur game through negligence and was able to reclaim it from the abyss with the help of cloud storage. Despite having solved the issue, this for some reason made me want to completely rework my backup system. I wrote about this before, check it out.

Done reading? Good. To make a long story short, I wrote a perl script that searches a given directory and copies all of its files and subdirectories to a given source. The idea was/is that I’ll use this in place of rsync for future backups. Let’s say, though, that esync is still in the beta stage. After testing the functions thoroughly (but as I soon learned, not completely), I tried them for the first time on my actual filesystem, full of music and code and games – all of my files, basically. Upon doing this (about an hour ago), my iTunes library quickly vanished from my computer and onto an external drive, not copied, but moved. The same thing happened to a bunch of Application Support files in my Library, causing things to spontaneously quit and restart, lose their settings, et cetera.

Thankfully, no data were actually lost, just moved around a bit. But it was crappy. I’m tweaking a bit more, and hopefully I’ll have something functional by the end of the night. And if that’s the case, I can stop obsessing over this project! Sometimes it’s hard to avoid the thinking addiction that accompanies learning programming. And unfortunately, I don’t have too much else to write about, as this code has been filling the majority of my free time since Thursday. I am going to a Recorded Music session tonight to assist, though. My roommate London is recording a track for a class, and he asked me to help out. Leaving soon, we’ll see how it goes.

EDIT: This is my Friday night. The dinner of champions: Mega Man X, Yuengling, Perl, and fried rice. But not necessarily in that order.

Here’s a link that I had to use today during my exploits, you might find it useful. How to show hidden files in Finder

As always, thanks for reading!

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