conjurdude

first of all, as some friends said on Twitter, it's going to be very confusing for Minnesotans. "Oh, are you gettin' an [aipɒd]?" "Nooo, I'm getting an [aipæd]!" (For those of you who don't speak International Phonetic Alphabet, all that was fuckin' hysterical.)

Ok, on to substance. I will readily admit to being drawn in by the "ooh, shiny!" factor. I like the size of the display, I very much like the iBooks functionality, and I like that iPod Touch apps I've already purchased will be playable. I like the integrated microphone, though I'm a little disappointed there's no camera (although, if it's a lap device, it's been pointed out it would give even Twiggy a double chin shooting from below the face), and I'm wondering how the image-out stuff will work for, say, the iWork suite and Keynote in particular.

What I'm waiting to see is 1) what changes the iPhone OS 4.0 will bring, and 2) what magazine publishers will do with it. I'd also love to see an app that lets you check books out of your local library system. Mine currently does this with Adobe Digital Editions, but that's really kludge-y, and I can't take them with me on my iPod, thanks to Adobe's proprietary DRM. I'd love to see some sort of ePub file that can have my checked out book "expire" after a few weeks. I'd be all over that.

So I'm adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards this new shiny thing. I'm pretty much predisposed to like it, but I'm wondering what new functionality, if any, will be added in the near future, before committing to buying it.

Also, 3G only through AT&T again? Lamesauce.

I'm hitting the hay as soon as I finish this entry, because I've got a ludicrously busy week ahead of me, work-wise. It started with a birthday party today (at which the cotton candy machine failed to perform, and which I felt wretched about), continues with two special events tomorrow, one at 9am and one at 6:45 pm, and is followed by eight more events over the next five days. That's right; eleven Mad Science gigs in seven days. Egads. I have a very complex ballet of equipment exchanges and various supply stops choreographed for tomorrow morning, and I'll be getting up at 6am to commence it. First stop (well, first stop after the non-negotiable coffee fill-up), procuring about 20 pounds of dry ice.

So, goodnight for now.

remember that job I had the phone interview for? I've been asked to come in for a face-to-face interview. It won't be until February 11th, but still. Interview. Full time job. State benefits. Yay!

seemed to go pretty well. Cautiously optimistic. Candidates selected to move on to the face-to-face interviews should expect to hear back in the next two weeks.

I don't know that my LJ gets a lot of visitors from Europe, but I have a quick question for any of my European readers that are of a technical bent.

My aunt, the one I'm mastering the DVDs for, wants to try to distribute the DVDs in Europe. My understanding, and please correct me if I’m wrong, is that while the US televisions work on a format called NTSC, European TVs have a format called PAL. If I want a DVD to play properly overseas, should I format it as PAL? It's easy enough, I just need to master the DVDs twice, once for PAL and once for NTSC, but I wondered if I'm being overly cautious.

Anyway, any guidance would be most be appreciated.

remember that UW-Milwaukee job I applied for back in late November, for the Student Status Examiner associate position? I have a phone interview for it tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck!

Much as I post the text of the Declaration of Independence on my LJ every July 4th, I post the entirety of "Auld Lang Syne" on my LJ every January 1st. Sing it like you mean it at your favorite tempo...

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We two have run about the hills,
and pulled the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

This was a pretty spiffy Xmess, despite the relatively lean times. I got a nice new robe (it's got a belt...you can dunk it in the toilet...like a toilet belt), some new boxers, some lounge pants, thermal underwear, two geeky new tshirts, Target gift card, mini moai heads, and books and DVDs...oh glory and trumpets, the books and DVDs...allow me to elucidate:

• "Tiki Modern" by Sven Kirsten
• "Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 1, 1980-1982" by Berke Breathed
• "Up" four disc Blu-Ray and standard DVD set
• "The Emperor's New Groove" DVD
• "A Wish for Wings that Work" DVD, a.k.a. the Opus and Bill Christmas special
• "The Dark Knight" DVD
• "The Three Caballeros & Saludos Amigos" DVD
• "Old Crow Medicine Show: Live at the Orange Peel and Tennessee Theatre" DVD

All in all, pretty damn cool, and all things I really could use and/or enjoy. And best of all, my family didn't drive me bonkers! Well, not completely, anyway.

As previously mentioned, mom got us an HDTV from Costco, considering it to be Grandpa's gift to us. We also picked up a cheap but decent Blu-ray player from Best Buy for $120. Tis the season for pretty images, I think, no? Next on my list, a receiver and some speakers, but those'll have to wait for a while, until I have money again.

Hope you got everything you wanted for Xmess, and got to spend time with people you actually care about, rather than those who are merely related to you (though if there's some overlap in those groups, more power to you).

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

So.

This week, I had the most Mad Science gigs I've had for several weeks...a whopping three (it's understandable...December is traditionally a rather slow month for MS, it seems...so many schools getting ready to hibernate for winter break). I had my last robots session at one school, a session for the Cudahy Parks & Rec department on Friday afternoon with a theme of "Holidaze," which was kinda fun, and a birthday party on Saturday afternoon that I kicked major butt at, if I do say so myself. The kids were laughing at all the bad puns and silly things I threw in, and the birthday boy's parents were laughing at all the jokes that flew over the heads of the kids. Half of them I didn't even realize I was making until after they were out of my mouth...they were all clean, don't worry. Just a little more esoteric than most 10 year olds would get. I really think the party went extremely well, and I'm very pleased with myself (even if I didn't get a tip...oh well). I even timed it perfectly: I had an add-on to introduce to the mix, and still had to keep the time at 60 minutes, so they could do the cake, ice cream and presents...I totally nailed it. Yay me!

Today I wrapped all but one of mom's Xmess prezzies, and that last one is en route from Amazon. Should arrive Wednesday. Other than that, not too much else is going on. We got our HDTV last Wednesday, but have not hooked it up yet, as we have to do some cleaning and organizing in the living room in order to get access to the entertainment center. We're also pricing Blu-Ray players. Found a decent sounding one for about $175, but we'll wait to see if the price goes down a bit after the new year. I also have to edit down my aunt's first craft instruction DVD, but that shouldn't be too problematic. Mostly it's trimming the head and foot of each clip, throwing it a small transition, and getting it prepped. Simple enough.

That's all I've got for now, gang. I'll keep you posted.

I made a kick-ass pan sauce tonight for some pork medallions that I wanted to share with you. I just deglazed the cast-iron skillet with some whiskey and tossed in maybe a 1/2 cup of frozen wild blueberries. I cooked over low until heated through, and spooned it over the pork. Oh, yes, that was tasty.

Also, I now finally have a smartphone. I just opted for the Droid Eris, as it was cheap, it'll be getting a software update any day now, and will likely serve my needs until Verizon finally gets the iPhone. It does seem to guzzle it's battery, though. Have to do some looking into that...

Dinner eaten, snow shoveled, so here's what I did this past weekend in Chicago.

I took the Amtrak from the Milwaukee Airport station on Friday afternoon. Arrived in Chicago around 2:45, and immediately proceeded to find myself some bao. I'd been craving those little steamed rolls full of goodness for probably close to a year and a half, now, ever since my Costco stopped carrying them in their little take-and-bake section. Happily, not five blocks from the train station, there was a Wow Bao, and they know their bao. Two bbq pork bao, a Chinese vegetable salad and a pomegranate ginger ale later, I was a happy man. I hopped on the blue line and ventured up to meet my friend Andrew.

Got to Andrew's around quarter to four, and helped him put together a desk for his wife Emily on the back porch, the better to hold all her scenic painting supplies. Ran with him to get goodies for his birthday party that night, and pitched in slicing cheese for the snack trays. Andrew made a kick ass stir fry, we ate, we drank, I helped Em decorate their tree, I played with their dog, Imixed cocktails, lots of people came and partied, and I wound up leaving with my friend Michael, who I was staying with, at close to five in the morning.

Saturday, after waking up and chugging coffee to deal with the effects of the night before, Michael and I grabbed a burger at the Chicago Ale House, and then headed out to meet up with our friend Lucas. Michael and I both had things to head to later that evening, but it was great just chatting and catching up with Luke. He had some fun war stories to tell about his days teaching in the Chicago Public School system (he's got good kids, by and large, it sounds like).

Michael headed down to his company Xmess party, and I made tracks to meet up with my friend Magen (who renface knows of, but has never met), the better to hit up Trader Vic's. It was repeal day, after all. We made friends with the bartender, I gave him my recipe for bacon-infused bourbon, he gave me the Trader Vic's recipe for the custom sour-mix for the London Sour (orange and lemon juice, orgeat and sugar syrups, and no, you don't get the proportions).

Had a blast at Vic's and then met up with Michael again to head to our friend Peter's combination housewarming and Christmahannukakwanzaakazamus party, where there was more food and lots more booze. Oh, the booze. Peter had stuff I'd never seen but desperately wanted to sample, and he was good enough to share. I had two gins from North Shore Distillery, as well as a limited edition Mole Poblano spirit they released. I had a little cordial glass of a 28 year old Kentucky straight bourbon that was so incredibly good I'm still trying to plot an Ocean's Eleven-type heist to get the rest of the bottle. I got to play around and mix drinks for some folks as well, so that made me happy. Among some of my old friends that were there, my reputation for drink-mixing had preceded me, which was kinda cool, frankly.

We wound up leaving Peter's around 3, and I crashed around 4. Woke up at noon, had more coffee, and then skedaddled downtown to take the train back here to Wisconsin.

Good trip. Although I missed seeing roolet this trip, an oversight which I most certainly will remedy on my next trip down. Which I will not take another year to complete.

After I finish shoveling out from the first real snow of this winter, I'll write a Chicago trip report. So much to tell. And (there was) so much to drink!

I have decided that from here on out, I shall refer to former president George Dubya Bush as "President Ethelred the Unready." It makes me giggle every time.

Also, I will be headed to Chicago this weekend for my dear friend Andrew's birthday. He will be 33, the same age as Christ when he was crucified. Andrew works in a scene shop. I have warned him to be careful around nails for the next year.

I'm feeling very sacrilicious tonight, and I love it. Something something something Dark Side.

Don't think I mentioned it here, but my Auntie Bella (my mom's brother's second wife, for those keeping track at home) makes teddy bears and has practically written the book on fabric felting as an art form. She's planning on rolling out some patterns with accompanying DVDs, and guess who has two thumbs and is her photographer/videographer? That's right, babies. Me. So she had me do some research and pick out and order a camcorder that would be ideal for recording various processes that I can edit down to DVD form. Part of the reason I got that MacBook Pro...if I'm her contractor for DVD production and photography, I'm reasonably certain I can write the whole enchilada off as a business expense.

So I selected for the camcorder a Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1A, which plays super nice with Macs, and can also be used as a 12-megapixel still camera. And what a camera! I took a sample photo to email Auntie Bella to give her a sense of just how nice this camera is, which you can see below. This is a teddy bear she made and gave me, which is awesome in and of itself. His name is Sam Gamgee, after the Hobbit.


And, as one last bonus to you, please enjoy a short story I wrote for ficly.com. It clocked in at exactly 1024 characters, the limit for that site. I decided to record it in a very hard boiled style and set it to a little Ken Burns-style photo montage.

Hi everyone. My name's Chris...
(Hi Chris!)
...and I'm addicted to making random and esoteric cocktail ingredients.

Seriously. In the last few weeks, I've made bacon-infused bourbon, Jamaican bitters (grapefruit, ginger, and several spices), two different tinctures (pumpkin and ginger), a juniper and sage simple syrup, and now I'm making Donn's Tinc, a tincture version of the famous Donn's Mix (ok, famous in some circles) which is a cinnamon and grapefruit compound used in tiki drinks.

In my defense, several of those ingredients are destined to be used at Thanksgiving dinner with renface's family, as I'm always responsible for the hooch at that gathering. But still...it's fun!

So. Wednesday night, went to a Hiney Flu Shot clinic my county health department was throwing. Got the Hiney Flu vaccine. Feel a little tired, but otherwise just ducky. (For those of you with strange looks on your face...Hiney flu = H1N1).

Thursday AM, had my face to face interview with the natural foods place. Seemed to go well.

Today, did kit exchange for Mad Science, picked up materials for the next two weeks, as there's no kit exchange next Friday, being the Day of the Turkey Coma in the US. Also managed to leave without getting my paycheck. Emailed bosses to ask them to mail it. Also talked to my dear friend Tuffet in LA, who just had lunch with someone who works at Disney Animation. She got a tour of the Animation building in Burbank, and rubbed John Lasseter's nameplate for luck. No, that is not a euphemism. She has challenged me to come up with three elevator pitches for animated series for her, by next week. Could be interesting.

Tonight, reading by the bunnies.

Next week, getting the last ingredients for Thanksgiving with renface and company. Need to get apple cider, new bottle of lemon juice, some oranges, ginger beer, and possibly some grade B maple syrup, although I think the stuff I have, even though it's grade A, will work just fine. Two Mad Science gigs, and then some free time. Hopefully I'll hear back from the natural foods store, as well.

I don't know if you all remember (or even if I mentioned it at the time) but over the summer, I took an exam to be eligible for any Student Status Examiner positions that opened up in the state, that is to say, I'd be looking at transcripts and GPAs and whatnot and deciding if they met the criteria for admission for state colleges. Well, I did okay on the exam, and proceeded to think no more about it, but today I got a letter from UW-Milwaukee inviting me to apply for a full-time Student Status Examiner Associate position that's opened up. So yeah, sending in my resume to that tomorrow!

And that's on top of the interview I've got lined up for the Outpost Natural Foods Pricing Shift Lead/Journeyman position on Thursday (although I took the call early this morning, and have already blanked on the name of the person I'm supposed to ask for when I get there...I'm hoping it'll come back to me). Everything's coming up Milhouse!

Heard back from the co-op, did an initial phone interview with the HR guy, and if he thinks I'd be a good match, he'll forward my info on to the manager of the department for a second interview. It seemed to go pretty well, I thought. Here's hoping.

Now, to finish my coffee and get ready for my blood donation.

A couple weeks back I dropped off an application and resume and the primary location of Milwaukee's local natural foods co-op for a part time shift pricing lead position they had open. Well, I didn't hear anything back from them and sort of wrote it off, but today, while I was on my way to a Mad Science gig, I got a call from them (at home, unfortunately). When I got back, I called the guy back, and told him I'd call again in the morning, so hopefully, I can get an interview set up for the gig.

The hours would be pretty much perfect for working both the co-op job and Mad Science, so I'm really hoping I can get this.

With the intention of starting up a sole proprietorship business in dialect coaching (and freelance photography/video editing work, mostly for my aunt's crafting business), I got a MacBook Pro.

Yeah.

It's very shiny. And fast.

Thursday morning, I worked with my bosses at the Wisconsin Education Association Council Expo (a.k.a. Teacher's Convention) for four hours at the Midwest Airlines Center downtown. I was my charming-ass self, handed out swag, and helped to give teachers info on what we do at Mad Science. I even got to speak German to one teacher, and was complimented on my pronunciation. Not too shabby for only two years of it way back in high school. All in all, a surprisingly fun four hours.