We've been using it here on brendoman.com for a while, but now the Google Spell plugin for b2evolution is publicly available at AstonishMe.co.uk. We're pretty excited to release it into the community for free. The spell checker than comes with b2evolution does not work at all, so this will be a good alternative. It does require b2evolution 1.6 or later.

This really was a collaborative project for the team at Astonish Me. I started the ball rolling by exploring different ways a spell check plugin could be made. There are several server side methods, like aspell and pspell, but they aren't as easy to install. I settled on Google's spell check API because it's free, fast, multilingual and easy to connect to. Then I found GoogieSpell, some GPL javascript code that handles the connection to Google and the user interface of the spell checker. Once I found that I was able to drop it into a b2evolution plugin and have it working in no time.

Then, I passed it off to stk and YaBBa at AstonishMe and they kicked the tires and found a few problems. They fixed them up and stk started working on the fluffy write-up. That man could sell ice to an Eskimo. Then we discovered that there was a limit to how much text the spell checker could handle. Any text after that limit was just ignored. So, YaBBa set about rewriting part of the plugin to correct that problem (which also exists in GoogieSpell). I think this turned into a big project for him, but he was successful. After that we ironed out a few more bugs and released the plugin.

It's a free plugin, but we're hoping that our work on it will get some positive attention for AstonishMe, which may help us make some money down the road. Follow the first link in the post for a more detailed description of the plugin. Or, just leave a comment here to see the spell checker in action.

I had my first day of on-the-job lead training today. I woke up at 4 AM. Chris dropped me off at Disneyland at 4:50 (more on that later). My shift started at 5:30. Despite how freaking early it was and the fact that I am NOT a morning person, I had a blast. I also think I did a pretty darn good job. Things didn't get too crazy so that was good. We'll see how I do on the weekend and at closing.

In bad news it turns out I have a bad transmission fluid leak on my car. It all happened because I ran over a stupid plastic bag. Seriously. A freaking plastic bag. I don't know the damages yet but it might result in the postponing of Operation Bachelor Pad. Here's hoping it doesn't end up being so bad. I don't have to work again until 10:30 PM tomorrow (my 4th Grad Nite) so I got that going for me, which is nice.

1. Feeling the need for some afternoon excitement, Lucas and I went to see Over the Hedge today. I was in the mood for some comedic relief after viewing our most recent Netflix selections. Somehow, always unintentional, we end up watching multiple movies starring the same actor/actress in a weekend. This time, it was Billy Bob Thornton. First up was Slingblade. Lucas tells me that sadder movies exist, but I am not convinced that is a true statement, mmm-hmmm. We also watched A Simple Plan. Billy Bob sure can do sad and pathetic. Another tear-jerker. So, today at the theater, we saw Over the Hedge because I wanted something happy. And really, what is happier than animated animals eating junkfood? Plus, a bonus: we didn't know this going in to the movie, but Ben Folds did the soundtrack. There are 3 new songs, plus a re-working of "Rockin' the Suburbs." More happy.

2. As we were sitting down watching "Last Comic Standing" tonight, the thought occurred to me: with all the reality TV shows out there, why haven't I seen someone I know on one of them yet? I mean, there have to be at least 50 reality shows, and that is probably on the low side. With shows like "American Idol" and "Last Comic Standing" airing the auditions as well as the actual competition, thousands of people are broadcast every night onto our TV. So why don't I know any of them? I figure the odds are astronomical that longer than 2 more years pass without finally seeing someone I know end up a reality TV star.

~Kelly

So I was reading about socialism. I went to wikipedia, and I just read the list of people or groups of people that claimed to have socialist ideas. Go check it out here. Wow...

Here is a rundown of our Memorial Day weekend, beginning on Friday and concluding on Monday. Included is some commentary, and I'll leave it to you whether you read it or not. Though, as always, there is a chance I will be making fun of you, and you may want to know that.

1. Friday: We visited Body Worlds II (official site). It is a travelling exhibit of deceased individuals who donated themselves to the exhibit. The deceased are preserved in a process known as plastination, dissected/posed, and then put on display. I recommend looking at the linked sites to really see the results. It is quite interesting, but a bit bizarre when you think that everything you are looking at was one part of a person, living and breathing.
2. Saturday: Kelly planned a barbecue, inviting some friends from work and their husbands. We were expecting them to show up at 5, but no one came until 5:45 (after we became a little nervous that no one would show up). We cooked out, played croquet, and then went to our complexes theater (which we had rented out for $50) to watch Ferris Bueller. However, the projector was busted and there was a drunken party going on at the pool right outside. We ended up just hanging out for a while and getting our money back.
3. Sunday: Cornrows.
4. Monday: We ran in the Bolder Boulder 10k, the biggest 10k in the US (I think). There were about 50,000 people running, some in costume, Superman having a commanding lead on any other character. Bands lined the streets playing things like Black Sabbath and a reggae version of the Kinks Lola. The race was a lot of fun, and there is a standing invitation for people to come out and run it with us next year.

So that was our weekend. It was dope.

I have decided that we might as well call these updates quarterly, since that's what they basically are. I just hope that since I'm calling them quarterly, I don't trick myself into posting them semi-annually! (I don't use the exclammation point much, and I don't think that last sentence will convince me to start using it more.)

Steph got accepted to the Master of Library Science distance education program at the University of Illinois, as well as the program at San Jose State. The U of I program is significantly more expensive, but also much higher quality (it's the number one program in the nation). After we chose U of I, San Jose doubled their tuition, so we feel we made the right decision. She will be traveling to Illinois once per semester now, her first trip being this July for about 10 days or so. She will fly in and out of St. Louis, and I know she is hoping to see a few people while there (although there won't be much time).

Steph's new job at the library has begun, and she is a few weeks into her training. She likes the job pretty well, and I think it boosted her confidence when I told her I was willing to stay in California for her (my, how times have changed!).

I'm happy with how that last exclammation point turned out.

The cats are on a diet. They are angry now. As far as I can tell, our veterinarian hates us. Well, I hate his lisp!

I got a job as an English teacher at a Christian high school here in Pasadena. The job begins in August, and I may also get to work with the student council kids and do some mentoring and (hopefully) leadership development with them. This means we'll be here at least for another year, and it means I'll also be leaving Restoration Hardware soon. I don't know if this is what I will want to do for the rest of my life, but it seems like a big step in the right direction.

May 27 was our sixth anniversary. The crazy thing is that we've been out here for about two thirds of our marriage.

Say hello sometime. I have a new email address I can send to you if you want it. Love to all!

We're back safe and sound from a wonderful smelling, traffic-free, short-feeling, fully packed weekend!

We drove up Friday afternoon and made it to Camp Nelson in about 4.5 hours. That night we had a couple of drinks at the local diner, where we met plenty of locals, including the bartender, whose name also happened to be Jeri, spelled the exact same way. Weird. They make the best frozen pizza I've ever had. We found out our room was called the Eagle's Nest. What a coincidence. :) Vaulted ceilings, plenty of eagle-themed stuff throughout, and a funky 60s-style bathroom that we really dug.

Saturday morning we got up to a beautiful foggy morning (photo from our balcony) and found Ric's grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousin's family. We all went to breakfast at the diner, then several of us headed up the mountain to find the Amos Alanzo Stagg tree.

It made us feel short.

We came back and relaxed a bit, then had dinner down at the family's campsite (we stayed at the lodge while some of them roughed it), and spent the evening making smores. It was the first time Grandpa Price ever had a smore. Crazy! Good family times.

Sunday morning we all had a pancake breakfast with the rest of the community at the local volunteer fire department fire house. Yummy.

Ric and I went to the Trail of 100 Giants in the Sequoia National Park area on our own. That place was awesome. It smelled great, and every step we took was crunching over tons of pieces of brances and wood bits. Again, we felt quite short. We went back to the diner after that so we could have some more of that tasty pizza.

I filled the memory card, so we didn't have photos after that. We hung out at the campfire the entire night and had great family times and conversations.

Sunday, after a great country breakfast, a long goodbye with the grandfolks (you know how they all are about saying goodbye) and driving down to the campsite to say goodbye, we headed home. We had ZERO traffic problems the entire way home and got back in only 4 hours! Amazing. I thank God for our safe travels, good times, and the chance to enjoy the nature he created. I'm also thankful we got back with plenty of time to relax on Monday and also get a chance to see X3. I think we might have exploded if we didn't see it on opening weekend. :)

I'll upload photos from the trip in the next week or so. Lots of great nature shots and family moments. It was a very fun time.

I made my first blog post three years ago today. It was on LiveJournal then, but I've imported the old posts.

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

I really like making cookies. I mean, to mix add and then properly cook, all for the great reward of ingestion, is quite a remarkable task. That is just one of the things that I made today. I also made biscuits and gravy. I am the master of biscuits, thank you mom.

I think I am going to buy a digital camera and add something to my blog. What will it be, you shall see...after I buy the camera, sometime this month. This feature will make me actually get out of my apartment, which is something that I need to do. Maybe I will even talk to people.

This brings me to my next point. My older brother Bart and I noticed something that is disturbing. No one my age goes to church, unless they are married. First that is disturbing, because I can't ever seem to meet anyone my age. Secondly, why doesn't this seem to bother anyone else that people just stop going to church shortly after college?

I almost forgot my cookies...LOL...I hate lol.

Anyways, does anyone know an intelligent Christian girl in the Portland area who would go swing dancing with a guy who really doesn't know how to swing dance? If you do, you should have her give me a call.

Ok, the poll's up. Vote for your favorite Simpsons Neologism.

Born May 27, 2006 at 7:47 in the morning; 8 pounds, 6 ounces; 20.5 inches from crown to toe.

Me cutting the umbilical cord.
Erika with Daniel.
Me with Daniel.

Actor Paul Gleason passed away today. He was also appeared in Die Hard, 21 Jump Street, Seinfeld, and tons of other things.

"Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns!"

What's going on with me? Let's see...

• I've survived three Grad Nites. Just a few more to go.
• My lead training starts Tuesday! I'm excited but a tad nervous.
• We're going to start looking for apartments on Monday. This one looks very promising. Hopefully they will have a three bedroom available.
• My brother is coming to visit the weekend of my birthday!
• I got the week off I wanted in September. I will most likely be traveling out to Missouri then.
• I made it to level 25 in World of Warcraft. Chris just got the game last week and has almost caught up to me. That's insane.
• After listening to Chris and I talk about WoW all the time, Duncan has decided to renew his account. Our apartment has officially become the nerdiest bachelor pad of all time and we haven't even moved in yet.

I'm off to work. I actually have Memorial Day off, which is the first holiday I haven't had to work ever. So yay for that.

Simpsons neologism of the day for Sunday, May 28, 2006:
National insults. Apparently the normal stream of offensive material isn't efficient enough for the Simpsons writers, so occassionally they through in an insult for an entire nation of people.

Puck-slapping maple suckers - About Canadians.
Shatner-stealing Mexico-touchers - About Americans. The response to the above insult.
Cheese-eating surrender monkeys - Groundskeeper Willie's name for the French.
Sandal-wearing goldfish-tenders - Mr. Burns' name for the Japanese.

Simpsons neologism of the day for Saturday, May 27, 2006:
Word Hole

Sideshow Bob: Oh, I renew my objection to this pointless endeavor! Informally now and by affidavit later. Time permitting.
Wiggum: Shut your word hole! We've got to get this place clean for the air show.

In case you were wondering where the quote in the movie came from:

NSFW for sure!

X-3 was totally sweet, btw. Thanks Honzo for the heads up on the 2nd ending.

Simpsons neologism of the day for Friday, May 26, 2006:
Walking Bird

Grandpa Simpson: I just used my washtub that morning to wash my turkey, which in those days was known as a walking bird. We'd always have walking bird on Thanksgiving with all the trimmings: cranberries, injun eyes, yams stuffed with gunpowder. Then we'd all watch football, which in those days was called 'baseball'...

One final thought - Happy M.A., Kristen!

By the way, this year is not without its lame student who shouldn't walk and threatens to sue the university because of something that's his/her own fault!

Well, we're off for the weekend to do some camping with Ric's grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousin's family! We're heading up to Camp Nelson up by the Sequoias, where we will rough it by day and stay in the lodge by night. Haha. I'm looking forward to seeing some giant redwoods. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I missed out while growing up, never having seen Alien or Predator movies. For both series, I've gone in backwards order. With the Aliens, I saw Resurrection first because it was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, then several years later I actually saw the other three movies. And the first time I saw a Predator was in Alien vs. Predator.

So going backwards is a little bit weird, but it's never too late to catch up. I caught this on TV the other day and was thoroughly entertained. I love that there is pretty much zero plot. We meet the characters, dump them in a jungle, and watch them get picked off by a creature they somehow fool themselves into thinking is a man in camouflage for the first hour of the movie. By the end, it's our Governor versus the Predator, and it's a lot of fun. But who cares about ridiculousness? This movie is exactly what we expect this type of movie to be like.

Actually, it was better than I expected. I liked that the nature of the Predator was slowly revealed through the movie. First we see what it can do and what it can see. Then we see the camouflage that makes it practically invisible. Then we see a bit of its body. Then we see the full figure in blips as the camouflage short-circuits. Finally we see the entire body full on, and by the end we see it in all its wonder (or as Schwarzenegger says, "You're one ugly [bleepity-bleep]!")

The best part of the movie is when Arnold is on his own, covered with mud, planning his fight against the creature. I liked how they kind of stripped down and treated each other at the same level. Schwarzenegger has no guns and is screaming his battle cry with a fierceness similar to that we've heard from the Predator. The Predator drops all weapons and armor and fights hand-to-hand with his enemy. It's cool. The only critique I would give on the last fighting scenes is that there was too much Predator-vision going on, when I really wanted to actually see them fight each other.

Anyway. Good stuff, and another one checked off of my "People can't believe I've never seen _______." list.

Manifold: Space (Manifold) by Stephen Baxter

Nice.

Stay for the 2nd ending. You won't be disappointed.

Yesterday was my last day of school. I officially made it through my first year! It is quite different to be on the teacher side of things at the end of the year than it was being a student. Instead of finals, I had to worry about finishing up reports, updating files, tranferring paperwork, and finding somewhere to store all my therapy materials (most of which came home with me...). We had a luncheon yesterday, which was nice. The year went fast-I could hardly believe it was May and time to be done!

So far, here is what our summer is looking like:

1. Monday, we run the Bolder Boulder 10K. It is our first race since the Corporate Cup in Omaha in September 2004. We have been training just about a month now and we are up to 4 miles. But it always seems easier to run 6 miles when there are 10,000 (or, 50,000 as will be the case Monday) people running with you.
2. My friend Laura is getting married in June in Omaha.
3. We are going to travel down to Albuquerque so Lucas can show me where he spent his formative years.
4. There will be some hiking, maybe some camping, a bit of white water rafting, and some entertaining thrown in there. Lucas' family is coming to visit in July. If any of you are planning to be in Colorado this summer, let us know!

~Kelly

Simpsons neologism of the day for Thursday, May 25, 2006:
Bumbled Bee

Burns: Stop that, you wantwit! I might get stung by a bumbled bee!

"Wantwit" is a pretty good one, too.

WCG 2005 Newsletter

Sign up here for your free subscription to EGM. I've gotten free Gamepro subscriptions before on the web and this seems pretty legit. Kotaku says it's only going to be up until Friday or until supplies last, so get on it.

It's probably the geekiest day ever, but it's still pretty awesome.

"That's where drunk daddies drive to."

LMAO

So during a conversation with my brother tonight, I realized that my mom's most troublesome 3 year old class that she ever had is going to be in third grade at church starting on June 11th. Wow. There is one student that I am really looking forward, who is probably going to be the most difficult. Here is the one story that will always remind me of her.

One sunday when this girl I am refering to was three and in my moms class determined that she needed to do something. What was this something? Well it was take a bath. While my mother was distracted, I must tell you she was not the only challenging student, she proceeded to disrobe completely in the middle of the class. My mom, realizing that this is a difficult situation, realized that she need to get clothes back on this child. My mom does not know why she is naked, so she asks. The child screams "I HAVE TO TAKE A BATH!!!!!" She was completely inconsolable, and this is the child that will be joining me this summer in my class. Hooray.

We survived our Disneyland outing yesterday. Barely. I'm really digging my pretty much new PC. WoW never looked so beautiful. I got Chris sucked into the game and he's trying to catch up to my level so we can quest together. I love how Blizzard has turned WoW players into crack dealers by including a 10-Day guest pass with every copy of the game to give to a friend. That's how I got hooked. "Here, try it out. The first taste is free!" I've got Grad Nite again tomorrow and then I'll be starting my lead training. Hopefully by this time next month I'll be in a new place with Chris and Duncan. I also found out that my brother is coming to visit me for my birthday. I haven't seen the guy in a year, so that should be pretty darn sweet. Hope everyone out there has a happy hump day!

Simpsons neologism of the day for Wednesday, May 24, 2006:
America's Wang

Homer: Florida?! But that's America's Wang!

Another in my mini-series of darker animated movies, The Fox and the Hound is actually not as dark as I would have expected it to be from what I heard about it. Disney movies of the past had a tendency for some pretty serious stuff, like Bambi's mother dying or the horrors of Maleficent or the Queen in Snow White. I think a lot of that stuff actually helped me as a kid to understand and accept that death was a part of life. So it was no surprise to me when this movie began with a very Bambi-esque scene in which the fox, Tod, is secured in hiding and his mother dies while running through a field.

The nearby animals of the heavily wooded land help drop him off in front of a woman who lives alone, and she readily takes him in as kind of a wild pet. He sleeps indoors but roams free by day. He befriends a puppy at a nearby house, but unfortunately the puppy's owner is a hunter, and while the two begin as the best of friends, as they grow older they are forced to consider each other as enemies.

The whole movie has a lot of charm, but often feels slightly off. There is a lot of potential in this movie, because there are so many different types of animals who can make great characters. Unfortunately, along with the many cute moments, there are plenty of by-the-book ones that don't quite measure up to previous Disney movies. I actually did like all of the characters, but was somewhat disappointed that the movie didn't do more with what it had.

I'm not sure if it's just a sign of the times (early 80s), but the music was kind of pathetic. It lacked singability, wasn't memorable, and always felt like it was injected into a movie just because music is often a requisite of Disney's animated features.

Visually speaking, the landscapes of the land, especially the greenery and the waterfalls, is very lovely. The rest of the animation creeps more into a sketch-like feel around the edges of the characters instead of clean lines (like the Aristocrats). I tend to prefer clean lines myself, being a huge fan of Disney's early animated movies and cartoons, so I stuck to admiring the backdrop more.

I know I'm focusing on the negatives, but it was a good movie overall. A kid would probably like it, and if I had grown up watching it as a kid, I probably would have some sort of blind allegiance to it like I do for a lot of movies I saw a million times while growing up. I guess the reason I focus on the negatives is because I see the potential in it to have been a better movie. Slightly disappointing, I still liked it in the end, and would possibly buy it in the future to add a note of variety to the movies I plan on subjecting my kids to one day.

IGN Wii: There are a lot of Web browsers on the market. Why do you think Nintendo chose Opera for Wii?

Scott Hedrick: Opera is a full Web browser for desktop, mobile and devices. We use our same desktop core to run on non-traditional devices, often with constrained resources. Opera is able to provide Nintendo with a full functioning Web browser, customized for Nintendo and working within any limitations the device presents. We are also able to use the device's features, whether dual screens or an innovative remote control, and incorporate these features into the browsing experience. I think that Nintendo quickly found that Opera was really the only browser that could meet and exceed their expectations in terms of speed, functionality and innovation. We are also very like-minded companies, placing the user experience first and ensuring that our products are not exclusive but rather inclusive, no matter age or gender.

Wii's World Wide Web

:: Dueling Analogs :: The Konami Code

This is the real deal.

Today I saw a reference to Don Colbert, a doctor who has written a whole series of books claiming to hold biblical insights into 21st century health issues. Apparently, the Bible provides help with treating Diabetes, ADD, Menopause, and Cancer.

Now, I can obviously respect people who look to the timeless principles of the Bible to provide guidance in their lives, but unless Dr. Colbert is advocating casting out demons and rubbing mud in people's eyes, I really don't see how the Bible can be applied to medical issues. And you may call me a heretic, but I think it's okay for Christians to believe that doctors today may know more about medicine than the authors of the Bible did.

In addition to all these "Bible Cure" books, Dr. Colbert has also published What Would Jesus Eat? (which I have had the misfortune of actually seeing on display in a bookstore). It seems to me that anyone who cares about what Jesus ingested is perhaps missing the point. In fact, I recall Jesus saying something once about what goes into a man's mouth.

I didn't think the movie was either horrible or wonderful. It was simply okay.

Most of the cast were actually good with their roles, except for Tom Hanks. I think the choice of Hanks for Robert Langdon was a bad one. He played Langdon very stiffly, and it was odd to me that he didn't seem all that excitable when considering the fact that he might find the Holy Grail. The impression of Langdon I got from the book was a man who had a little bit more of a sense of humor who was a lot more into the hunt than Hanks came across.

The direction by Ron Howard was so-so. It got the job done. If I hadn't read the book, I would have been confused by some of the flashback scenes, and he managed to make the car-chase scene through Paris absolutely unexciting and unbelievable.

I thought the plot itself moved along well but didn't have enough intensity. The ideas were explained well, and actually, I thought the moviemakers did a good job of covering some of Dan Brown's mistakes by having some of the characters question Leigh Teabing's assertions. The movie definitely didn't feel agenda-based. It wasn't trying to prove a thesis of any sort. It was about characters who get caught up in uncovering a bunch of clues. A hunt. And putting Brown's story on film made the whole idea come across as even more preposterous than I expected.

I thought the adaptation was a good one, and it managed to avoid some of the more awkward and unbelievable parts of the book (no, Sophie didn't threaten to bend Madonna on the Rocks, which in real-life can't be bent because it's painted on wood -- she just ran instead). The scene at the Roslin church was a little bit weird, but I can see how it worked better for movie purposes, I guess.

All in all, I'd say it pretty much played like a summer blockbuster usually does - not much impact, but was a good enough way to kill a couple of hours.

Simpsons neologism of the day for Tuesday, May 23, 2006:
Beginulate

Frink: "Let the commencement… beginulate!"

What do Burger King, MySpace, and Jack Bauer have in common? Last night, a commercial during the season finale of 24 came on advertising free downloads of 24 by visiting Burger King's MySpace page. Huh?

Another good weekend, and some actual relaxation time this time!

On Friday a bunch of us went out to celebrate Jon's birthday, kind of spontaneous-like. We ate at El Torito. I'm telling you, that place is yummy. Photos are here in the album called Jon's Birthday.

Saturday I had bridesmaid duties and went shopping with all the girls again. Crazily enough, we went to one store to try on one dress, but all of us passed by another dress we all liked, tried it on, and agreed that we found a winner! It looks just like the picture below, only the dress we bought is black with silver-blackish beading. Of course, a couple of us will need alterations in the chest area because the neckline is rather low. We'll be having them sew the opening up a bit, and then I'll probably have some chiffon added to help cover up a little bit more.

I'm glad we were able to find it so easily, and it's very much a dress I can wear again to other occasions. :)

Saturday night Ric and I went out to coffee with Judi. That's always a fun time. She still has a very funny pottymouth.

Sunday we accidentally slept in and missed church for the second week in a row. Ric always wakes up early and then comes in to wake me up, lays down, and falls back asleep again. Oops. So in the afternoon I went to see the Da Vinci Code, which was insanity down at the theater, and went shopping. Got some great discount deals at Ann Taylor Loft. Who says they can't afford to shop there? I bought shirts for $10 and $15 a piece in the sale section! That night we did laundry at Ric's folks' house and watched the Fox and the Hound with them. Reviews to follow! It was nice to have Sunday with a little bit of time for myself. Lately I've been stretching myself a bit thin, or at least my backache has made it feel worse than it really is.

Speaking of my back, I'm going back in for a consult to try and get another epidural. The back is pretty much back to the way it was, and as a result the pain on the right side of my back is forcing me to overcompensate with my left side, and so I've developed some hip problems in my left side. I'll be trying out the elliptical machine at the fitness center to see if that will help stabilize my hip. I might need to do that until I get an epidural to help out the back pain. I swear. Doctors always look at me and say, you're 27, you shouldn't have these problems! I always say, "I know, but they started at 21, so let's see if we can start fixing them!"

I had forgetten to share this video my bro showed me. It's basically a stampede of people that rushed into the Nintendo booth once it opened. If you look carefully, for a second you can see the PS3 area which is practically empty.

So somehow I got three days in a row off this week. I'm going to enjoy them because now that I'm a Lead I probably won't have a whole lot of time off in the near future. Tomorrow my friends Jon, Justin, Chris, Anthony, and I are all going to California Adventure and then Disneyland. Insanity should ensue. Hopefully we won't get kicked out of the park or something :)

I hereby declare this week to be Simpsons neologism week. I'm going to post one every day, then I'll have a poll next Monday so you can choose your favorite. Feel free to slip these words and phrases into casual conversation throughout the week.

Simpsons neologism of the day for Monday, May 22, 2006:
BBBQ

Lisa: [reading Homer's invitation] "Come to Homer's BBBQ, the extra 'B' is for BYOBB."
Bart: What's that extra B for?
Homer: That's a typo.

The Ministry of Love.

So today Jon and I were going to install my new Motherboard and video card but discovered that I needed a new power supply. We went to Fry's and noticed that a new Antec Sonata case was about the same as a power supply. Jon needs another box for his UNIX training and has a pile of components, so we figured that all we would need for another box was a processor. So now Jon has his UNIX box and I have almost a brand new compy in a sweet ass case. I'm super stoked.

Happy International Meat Day 2006!

Here's another spammer whose site has comments open.

townhomesinfo.com

Let him have it.

My brother was featured in an article in the Omaha World Herald today. I am putting a link to the article below. You have to be a member to read it, so if you don't want to join, you can borrow a password from here.

I got the job! I am now a Ticket Taker Lead. I'll probably start my training sometime next week or the week after that. Hopefully in the next month or so I'll be moving in to my own place. My friends Chris and Duncan are going to live with me. It should be pretty darn sweet. Thanks for all the encouragement and good vibes. If it wasn't for the support of friends, I know I would have given up by now. You guys rock.

I can’t believe I went eight years without hearing this album. Released in 1998, this second and final album from Neutral Milk hotel is a masterpiece. I listened to it after it was recommended to me recently, and I fell in love with it immediately.

The album’s sound is the kind of joyful, orchestrated, noisy folk-rock that I’ve been into lately, yet it’s unlike anything I’ve heard before. The band uses an eclectic range of musical instruments, including guitar, piano, banjo, horns, accordion, and others I don’t even recognize. But while other artists who employ such a variety of instruments, like Sufjan Stevens, tend to make music that sounds very refined and carefully produced, Neutral Milk Hotel retains a more rough and spontaneous sound. This is heard in the frenzied strumming of the guitar, the heavily distorted drums, and the fuzzy bass of the album’s louder tracks. Refusing to be drowned out by such joyful noise, Jeff Mangum, the band’s lead singer, belts out his surreal lyrics at the top of his voice. He sings the way children sing: loud, unabashedly, slightly off-key, but with complete earnestness. The combination of his vocals with the band’s rich, energetic, and unpolished instrumentation creates a sound of genuine rejoicing. It feels like the listener has wandered into the studio and caught the band in a spontaneous moment of perfect inspiration.

While the album is rough and unpolished, it is absolutely flawless. Every song is beautiful and essential, building upon the momentum of the whole album. The shorter songs, like “Fool” and “Communist Daughter” end exactly when they should, and the longer songs, like “O Comely” are rich and beautiful enough that they never become tiresome.

There are many rumors about why Neutral Milk Hotel, and Jeff Mangum specifically, quit making music after this album. Hearing this album, it certainly seems like a great loss. But at least they left this one flawless album as their legacy.

I do not get angry very easily. But this week, I got mad. This Tuesday was the last day of preschool, so we had a free day of sorts during which parents could come and play outside with their kids with water, bubbles, hula-hoops, etc. I brought my digital camera to take some pictures and was keeping on the desk when I was not using it. Sometime during the day, it was stolen. Stolen! From a preschool! And, not just that. One of my coworkers had her daughter with her and she had left her wallet on the desk as well (she is 8...it was a monkey wallet, obviously belonging to a kid). That got stolen too. From an 8 year old! And do you know what was in that wallet? Money for the bookfair. How sad. I have my suspicions of who took it (I mean really, there was a finite number of people in that room. It isn't too hard to make a pretty good guess...). I filed a police report, but the school is still not sure if insurance covers personal property. Sigh. The camera was a graduation gift from Lucas. It was a great camera. Some people are huge jerks.

That's all I have to say about that.

Nintendo DS New Super Mario Bros

News: Sony: Key PS3 launch titles hit in 2007 - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

However, Reeves maintained that shifting PS3s in the early days won't be a problem, such is the strength of the PlayStation brand: "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games."

I would be laughing more if I knew this wasn't totally true. Sony could take a dump in a box, label it PS3, slap a $500 price tag on it, and it would outsell everything.

I'm one of those guys who has a huge list of projects. I tend to work on multiple things at once a little bit at a time and it takes me a long time to actually finish any of them, unless it's something that must be done or I really want to do. One of the things that has been sitting at the top of my list for awhile was turning the news page at the pop.vox.music site into a b2e blog.

The biggest hurdle in doing this is keeping the layout and design of the page intact so that it still looks like the rest of the site. Danny helped me out with that by showing me this tutorial on how to turn any web page into a b2e skin. I also was waiting for Danny to install the new version of b2e that supported absolute domains. I didn't want to have to install b2e again in the popvoxmusic.com folder on our server since that would be a little redundant. With this new version, you can have blogs that are on different domains on your server. So now check out http://popvoxmusic.com/news.php

It's not nearly finished yet. I have to make the actual blog part look nice. I'm still not sure how we're going to get the alternating backgrounds to work but I think we can do it. But I'm stoked that we were able to create a new blog on a different domain using b2e. I'm also stoked I'm doing something on the computer besides playing World of Warcraft.