Inside The Perimeter

No Longer A Slack Motherfucker

2006-06-04T13:28:00.000-04:00

I'm cutting the virtual umbilical cord with Blogger today. If you've reached this message you should update your browser / aggregator to point to www.InsideThePerimeter.com which should take you to the new digs.

[UPDATE: fwiw- www.InsideThePerimeter.com is really redirected to www.InsideThePerimeter.net so if you got here by going to www.InsideThePerimeter.com it means that the nameservers have yet to realize the change. Sorry 'bout that]

Oh, there is no need to bring a housewarming gift and expect it to take me a week or so to unpack the links from the boxes that I've put them in.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

A(n Almost) Wasted Day In Paradise

2006-06-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

As I sit here on my deck surfing the internet (love WiFi), smelling my grill burn off bits and bobs of barbeques past I am reflecting on the day that wasn't.

It's now 6:00pm on Saturday and except for getting my hair cut (10:30am), eating lunch at Fellini's (11:30am), and preparing the barbeque for a summer of home grilling (5:00pm), I've feel like I've pissed away a perfect day.

I could have read one of the many books that await my attention, but that would have required me to sit indoors. I could have hashed, but I just wasn't in a hashing mood. I tried to go to the Virginia-Highlands Summerfest, but the parking was non-existent (as I assumed it would be) and as I drove around looking at the happy couples/groups I realized that the social aspect of going was as non-existent as the parking for someone attending alone. I had my camera with me in hopes of being inspired to take pictures, but never encountered anything better than a cliche shot of downtown. I am scheduled to go see Over The Rhine tonight at the Variety Playhouse, but that too is a solo flight and I am not sure whether or not I will attend.

Why should you care? I don't expect you to. I just thought that today would be one of those days I would look forward to blogging about and instead I am here at home, alone, blogging about it.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - lonely
Current Music - Gomez' "Out West", Disc 2

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Huh? What? Pardon Me?

2006-06-02T09:45:00.000-04:00

I expect these phrases to exit my mouth often today. My brain is scattered today. I guess I should feel fortunate that it is not also covered, chunked and peppered. Mmmmm, Waffle House...

The Name You Can't Trust
While finishing up a cup of coffee the other day I turned the cup over and saw this

Now I know that after thinking about it for a second you can understand that it says The Name You Can 'Trust', however when I first read it I saw The Name You Can't Trust and it made me laugh.

Penny For Your Thoughts
I wear a pair of sneakers that routinely get pebbles lodged within their tread. The other day I extracted three pebbles from my shoes and constructed a mini rock formation. I actually dislodged four but I had lost one by the time I was setting up this picture.

My first attempts at photographing (with Ye Olde Pentax Point & Shoot camera) this made me realize that you the viewer had no idea how tiny my little rock formation was. So, I enlisted Honest Abe as a common point of reference.

Hey, I've Got A Great Idea!!!
Join me and my friends at The EARL tonight to see National Grain; doors open at 9:30pm. You should probably like country music as that's the bulk of National Grain's catalog, but they are really good and as I found out at the East Atlanta Notoberfest Beer Festival they are nice guys.. at least to the people that are pouring their beer. :)

Country is not you favorite musical styling you say? A Fir Ju Well's guerilla marketing has informed me that they are playing at Lenny's Bar tonight. Go see them instead then. You should see one of their shows before their advertised "Final Show" at The EARL on July 1st. Hell, from the verbage on Lenny's website it's going to be their final days at their current digs as well. Hurry, time's a wasting! Leave work now and tell your boss that Paulie said it was okay. I can't guarantee that you will still have a job come Monday, but you can deal with that next week.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - foggy, hoping my Alavert and coffee kick in soon
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Gomez -- "How We Operate"
Website Of The Day - Interested in some juicy, nerd gossip? Then you should be reading Valleywag; it's as good as anything you will find at your grocer's check-out stand, assuming you are a nerd.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

A Comady Of Errars

2006-06-01T07:35:00.000-04:00

That best describes my life's experience yesterday...

No Hurry Hurry To Return For Piri Piri
Yesterday some coworkers and I decided to try something new over at the Super Target Parking Maze. With a plethora of chains from which to choose (have I mentioned that I am not a fan of chain restaurants?) including Chipotle, Shane's Rib Shack, Tin Drum, Panera, and Doc Green's, we chose to eat at the one none of us had ever previously tried... Boneheads.

I left the experience feeling like a bonehead for eating there. There was a line to the door when we arrived. Was this a good sign meaning that the food was so good people would queue up to get some, or a sign of incompetence? The latter was true [note to the cashier who left me standing alone as she decided to go and walk the floor: Never leave your register at lunchtime!]. The food I ate was mostly sub-standard, and even worse it was only mildy warm at 12:30pm, a time at which one would expect all food should be leaving the kitchen piping hot.

Strike one more chain of my list.

Closed? Seriously? Closed?
After Boneheads we headed to Target so that I could pick up a prescription that I dropped off last week. It was now 1:25pm and I was stunned when I turned the corner to find the pharmacy closed for lunch. Huh? Closing an entire pharmacy at Target? During the day? Around lunchtime when many people are out trying to run errands? This might be expected at Mom & Pop's Pharmacy, but at Target? But wait, it gets better.

As I stood there obviously dumbfounded a Target employee approached me. Here is a transcript of our converstation.

Emp: Hello Sir, is there something that I can help you with?
Me: Yeah, I was coming here to pick up a prescription I dropped off last week.
Emp: Oh. Well what is your last name?
Me: I tell him my last name and spell it for him.
Emp: Well, the pharmacy is closed for lunch and will reopen at 2pm.

If he had no intention of getting my prescription, why did he even bother asking me my name? Am I the only one who finds this strange?

[UPDATE @10:40am: I just made a run to Target to get the prescription. In their defense, there is a sign which states that the pharmacy would be closed from 1:30pm-2:00pm for lunch. I still don't understand why for a store as large as Super Target, and as I stated above it was 1:25pm when I was there (this I know because I looked at my phone after I repeated the story to one of my coworkers).]

Like The WWE I'm Going RAW
There comes a time in every photographer's life when s/he decides to make the leap to RAW. My time is coming quickly. The format itself doesn't scare me as I have plenty of flash memory cards and the willingness to fail before I succeed. What does scare me is the increased amound of time it will take for me to get my shots through the workflow of saving, reviewing, editing, and converting to a suitable format for display. Considering my main work machine for photo processing is my G4 iBook which doesn't have Photoshop CS2 (I do have Elements), I am not even sure of the tools which I will be using to complete my workflow.

Perhaps I should start reconsidering whether or not my time has come to make the leap...

Here's another shot from my Milstead photostroll last weekend. It's really too bad that this old runoff chute doesn't dump water into a large, deep watering hole. What fun it would be to slide down it.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - good
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Ben Folds Five -- "Don't Change Your Plans" (BF two days in a row? Coincidence?)
Website Of The Day - To go along with today's title, check out this series of photos of a tow truck trying to rescue a car from the sea.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running and some walking, 4.8 miles

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

End Of May Day

2006-05-31T07:55:00.000-04:00

Where did May go? Five months down, minor progress made along life's path.

Caught In The Wild
It's rare when I find myself on the lens side of a camera these days. It usually only occurs when someone else snaps a picture of me as rarely do I take self-portraits (btw- Maigh, I still have your plunger, in no worky with my camera).

On last weekend's photostroll my buddy Darren managed to capture me capturing something else.

It's a shame that the pipe obscures my awesome calves, but other than that I actually think it's a pretty good shot of me (look closely and notice my Mona-Lisa-like smile).

Margot And The Nuclear No Shows
Last night wasn't my fault (this time). After my photography class I rallied myself off the couch and headed up to The EARL around 9:30pm to see the live music for which I had purchased a ticket. The bill last night was to be (some band), Margot And The Nuclear So & So's, and Film School. I was there to see Margot et al, and Film School.

When I entered The EARL I thought it odd that the tv's were turned to baseball and that the place was relatively empty. I walked up to the table leading into the music room and saw the sign "Margot And The Nuclear So & So's cancelled". Given that I was there to see two bands and that it was about 9:45pm I asked "Does this mean that Film School will go on early?", to which the reply "They will probably take the stage around 11pm." While I have no qualms sitting in a bar for an hour, I don't really like doing it alone, so I decided to cut my losses and head home so that I could get a decent amount of sleep.

And as they say, misery loves company.

If The Hotel Is A Rockin'...
My July trip to Chicago is a go! The other day I took my chances and used Hotwire to book my hotel room for the weekend of the Paste Music Festival in Chicago. When I booked my room all I knew was that it was to be at a "Four Star" hotel in The Loop for $131 pre-tax per night. What I found out afterwards was that my room is in the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago, which seems fitting for the reason that I am travelling to Chi-town (which is a term probably loved by Chicagoans like Atlantans love Hotlanta).

Next on the agenda, buy a ticket for the recording of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

Run Like The Wind
I'm planning on a George's running outing tonight. It should be nice and steamy come 6pm, perfect weather for sweating out and toxins I injested over the big Memorial Day weekend. A look at the calendar reminds me that it's time to start training for the annual Atlanta Hash Peachtree Pub Crawl on July 4th.

"Water Bad! Beer Good!"

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - okay, thanks
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Ben Folds -- "Bitches Ain't Shit"
Website Of The Day - Maybe I'll do my Peachtree training via HyperStrike - Online Personal Fitness.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Flirting With Disaster

2006-05-30T08:45:00.000-04:00

That Would Have Been A Shitty Way To Start The Week
Cruising up 400 this morning there was a State Trooper with a radar gun. Eventhough I was amongst a pack of cars and I wasn't speeding, that much ;), my heart skipped a few beats when I saw him get into his car and turn on his blue lights a second later. I was certain that it was my turn (again) since I was in the shiny red Honda Accord, but luckily some other poor soul got the pleasure of flirting with Johnny Law this morning.

Moving This Blog, Part 436
I tried this weekend to cut ties with Blogger and move this space to my Wordpress setup. For someone who has twenty years of computer experience this process is going embarrassingly slow. This weekend I did go out looking for a new theme/skin for the blog. The latest selection is currently up at www.InsideThePerimeter.net.

I've got a meeting with the minds set up for June 7th, afterwhich I will undertake a no-holds-barred attack on getting the move done. Look forward to the ribbon-cutting around that time.

OTP: Two Out Of Three
That's right I crossed the fence twice over the weekend. On Saturday my buddy Darren and I went to Milstead, GA to take photos of the remnants of an old mill which once sat along the Yellow River. We had hashed past this site a few weeks ago and I was ready to go back with the camera.

This shot highlights my fascination with old manufactured parts that have information about the part forged onto it. If you look closely at this shot (or click through to get to see a better view) you'll see that this is/was a "fire door hanger" and was patented in 1901 and 1909. Eh, I think it's kinda neat.

I Prefer Fat Tires Over Flat Tires
Yesterday my friends Betsy, Melissa and I decided to do a grueling bike ride in the middle of the day. About two miles into the ride we saw three women on the side of McLendon Ave having difficulties with one of their tires. I, being brought up in an era where chivalry was still taught, asked them if they needed help to which they replied that they needed someone to help free the tire from the rim. We stopped, and secretly in the back of my mind I knew that I would look like a putz if I couldn't complete the task. After much struggling (and sweating, even in the shade) I admitted defeat (note to self: time to return to the gym). The woman's friends took off and started to ride back to their cars.

We remounted our bikes to resume our ride and about two blocks later Betsy's rear tire was punctured by a staple. Oh bother. While fixing her tire (we managed to get hers off the rim) the first woman passed us on her bike alerting us that she had gotten a real "fix it" man to help her out, and that he had ruined his housekey in the process. While I contemplated finding a stick to shove into her spokes, the task of fixing Betsy's tire was still at hand and I couldn't be bothered with filing police reports, etc. Once the tire was repared we decided that it was time to drink beer instead of ride so we headed back to our start. I accused Betsy of sabotaging her tire in order to restore my manly bravado, but thanked her for doing so. While the beer wasn't Fat Tire Ale, it was rather tasty.

CD Pick Of The Week
Readers, I hate to say this but you are on your own. I haven't a fucking clue about any of the CDs being released today.

Asobi Seksu? Boards Of Canada? Jim Dickinson? Matthew Herbert? Peeping Tom?

Perhaps one of you could educate me.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - unsure
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Faint -- "Desperate Guys"
Website Of The Day - If you've got the moxie to flirt in traffic, perhaps you should sign up for offline dating at Flirting In Traffic.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - a short Black Sheep hash on Sunday, an even shorter bikre ride on Monday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

In Memory Of Memorial Day

2006-05-26T09:25:00.000-04:00

I have spent the last handful of Memorial Days in Newnan, Georgia with hashers at an event known as Hedon. Hedon is a "camping" weekend on private property where the rules are "No dogs. No illegal drugs." and there are two beer trucks on site dispensing beer the entire weekend. Sound fun?

In the I have had a lot of fun at Hedon and about a month ago I signed up for this year's event. However, my recently-relentless schedule combined with last weekend's campout convinced me that Hedon was not for me this year. Instead I plan to spend a mostly-restful weekend doing whatever the hell I please.

Not Too Tough An Act To Follow
This morning I followed the "You Have But One Chance To Make A First Impression Act Of 1978" by taking the Jackmobile in for some TLC at Catcus Carwash. She looks fucking hot, even with the smattering of lint still present on the windshield. Seriously, I like Cactus Carwash but for what they are charging to wash cars could they not afford lint-free towels?

In two weeks I will take the Jackmobile in for her 50,000 mile checkup as she turns the ripe-old age of four. She still looks a like this picture from a year or so ago, with the addition of a few gray hairs and a few more wrinkles

Speaking of the Jackmobile, the other day I received a phone call from a District Attorney asking me questions about my carjacking which occurred in August of 2003. Ah, the swift wheels of the criminal investigation process...

When WiFi Turns Into WoeFi
When I made the monumental leap from my ancient Palm Pilot III to an iPAQ last year one of the big perks was getting the ability to surf the net wirelessly when I was at a location with a WiFi hotspot. It was great, until last week, when my iPAQ decided that it didn't want to do this any longer. It sees WiFi networks, but refuses to attempt to connect to them. Rats!

The timing this couldn't be much better since I am seriously considering moving to a Treo 650 from Sprint (Sprint's prices for data plans seem so much more reasonable than Cingular's and Verizon's). Cool kids like Susan and Mark carry them (although not necessarily of the Sprint variety), why should I? And let's face it, I'll never be as cool as Maigh so a Blackberry is out of the question...

Don't Know Much About Geography
Yesterday I found out that I will be spending a day or two in El Paso, Texas in the middle of July for training. Don't be that way, nobody likes it when you are so jealous of me. Do you think it will be hot then???

Not being a cartographer myself I pulled up Google Maps to locate El Paso. Holy Fucking Hell (almost literally) it's almost due South of Albuquerque, New Mexico! And it being almost directly on the US / Mexico border I can get a look at the new fencing being put up in efforts to stop illegals from entering.

Customer Disservice, Part 1
In preparation for my trip I decided to sign up for Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns^(R) frequent-flier program. I consider doing this like getting immunization shots before travelling; I may not need them, but having them can't hurt.

After providing all of the required information on their web site I was greeted with an error message. So I tried again, same error message. Naturally I then turned to calling customer service where I was promptly greeted with the standard message that

their menus have changed recently, please listen to all options
my call was important to them
call volume was higher than "expected"
all of their loyalty agents were currently helping other customers

Loyalty Agents? Oh Please, stop this fucking nonsense! They are (on average) underpaid call service representatives who'd give their left nut/teet to get the hell out of Dodge and we all know it.

Customer Disservice, Part 2
June marks the end of my Natural Gas Fixed Rate plan. To prepare myself for sigining another contract I surfed on over to websites of the major gas marketers to check their rates. One of the marketers had a rate plan called the Choice plan which was in between the non-fixed-rate plan and their "normal" fixed-rate plan. Want to know what this means? Me too! From their site I could never figure out what the hell made this plan "choice." I am sure that you understand why I didn't dare call them because I had no desire to sit on hold to wait to talk to one of their Loyalty Agents...

Well, that's a lot to digest. I'll probably be posting on Monday, so check you aggregators then. If not, I'll have plenty of nonsense to discuss on Tuesday. Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend all!!!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - nervous
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- "Phenomena"
Website Of The Day - Are you planning to travel to where the Internets may have not reached yet too? You may want to do like me and grab some of your favorite apps from Portable Apps and put them onto a USB thumb drive.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

You take the good, you take the bad

2006-05-25T07:30:00.000-04:00

You take them both and there you have
The facts of life, the facts of life

I have to apologize in advance because I really don't feel like writing today. Today my world is a little like this...

I Gonna Zoom Zoom Zoom Zoom Zoom
I tried taking a picture of the zoom lens to try and show the foreign object I've been mentioning... I failed.

I tried taking a picture of my whiteboard to perhaps show any problems... I failed (I could not get far enough away to focus, nor could I get decent lighting).

I guess that I am just going to keep the lens because I really hate having to ship shit back to online retailers.

InsideThePerimeter v2.0
I've made progress on the move to WordPress (visit my .net counterpart to see where it stands). I am still not happy, especially because I spent a good hour poking around trying to understand how the right-hand galley was populated (it's not like Blogger where you violate good web design by adding data to the css template). If you go to the site you will see that I never figured it out.

I've got a "Come To Jesuses" meeting set up with Maigh and Dave in a few weeks. In the meantime I will be playing around with css, probably wind up trashing the .net site, and starting all over again after we meet.

Ladies And Gentlemen, We Have A Winner!
Last night I watched the finale. American Idol? Um no, Top Chef. I know, I was the only person in America to watch Top Chef, but I kinda enjoyed it. It was no Hell's Kitchen mind you... On a related note, Hell's Kitchen v2.0 starts on June 12th.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - mixed -- one the one hand very happy; on the other notsomuch
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Avalanches -- "Frontier Psychiatrist"
Website Of The Day - This week's Web 2.0 wine evaluation site is.... Cork'd. Don't get this name confused with Corky, the characted with Down Syndrome on "Life Goes On."

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, approx 5 miles; walking, approx 1 mile

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Extreme Density

2006-05-24T07:55:00.000-04:00

Seriously, Am I This Dense?
I am having major difficulties figuring out how to use Wordpress with Dreamhost. Every time I think that I have found the proper document which explains how to set up my blog there I get routed to yet another document. I know that it shouldn't be this hard, and that I am not that stupid (although I am starting to have my doubts).

Can one of you Wordpressers point me in the right direction? The longer I wait to move from Blogger, the longer this process will take.

Flickr Is Acting Like A Fuckr?
Here's another shot using the zoom lens I bitched about yesterday. (note: at "press time" Flickr is unable to show this photo. WTF?)

If the lens imperfection were to rear its ugly head it should be near dead center in this shot. Today I'm going to try and get shots of things like my whiteboard so I can make a final decision on whether or not to keep it.

What The Zot Is That?
I've been sucked up into the Mac World just a little further. The other day while listening to a podcast I heard about this site called MacZot. I don't fully understand MacZot yet other than that they sell Macintosh software at a discount.

MacZot is currently offering a mystery grab bag of software, where the price is increasing as mystery items are revealed. I nearly jumped in on Day One when the price was $19.95, but I got cold feet. Of course I went back on Day Two and purchased the mystery grab bag for $24.95 (sometimes my financial decisions are weak). I'll reveal the contents of my purchase when I find out.

Pulling My Falcons Season Ticket Rip Cord
Good news, I have been offered an upgrade for my Falcons season ticket (moving from section 316 to section 123). Bad news, the cost has more than doubled (to about $750). I've decided that with at least one trip, a couple of technology purchases, and some home and auto maintenance on the horizon that the cost is too rich for my blood so I have passed.

Look for me on my couch on Sundays during the Fall watching football on a big screen tv instead of at the dome live. It's the way God intended it.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - dense
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Plastic Constellations -- "Sancho Panza"
Website Of The Day - Maybe if I start exercising and begin enduring I can contribute to We Endure the social training log.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - With my photography class at 6:15pm-8:00pm Tuesdays are rough. How's that for a lame excuse.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Take My Life, Please

2006-05-23T08:45:00.000-04:00

I Hate It When I Lose My Friends
I've been a manager at this Nationally Distributed Satellite Television Company for more than seven years.

Yesterday another of my employees turned in a resignation. This one hurt a little more than normal because not only do I think that this person is a talented software developer, (s)he has become a good friend in the time that we have worked together.

I work hard to bring them in and try to keep them happy. It's inevitable that some will fly the coop for better opportunities, but it doesn't lessen the pain and guilt.

To Return Or Not To Return, That Is The Question
With time to burn before trivia last night I took my new zoom lens out for a nature hunt -- in Piedmont Park. In part I was trying to get the necessary photos for tonight's homework (which didn't work out so well) and in part to test the limits of the new lens. I was excited to use my new lens. However, when I attached the lens to the body I looked down the barrel for the first time and saw what appeared to be a defect in the lens, or a foreign object inside the outermost lens. Welcome to my world. I am now trying to decided if I should return it for replacement since I purchased it online. Why does this bullshit continually happen to me?

Here are two shots (as always click through for better image quality, although I am not uploading the originals right now due to the length of time necessary to do so).

At lunchtime I am going to try and capture more shots to see if the perceived imperfect is reflected in my photos. If I can notice it my decision is simple, if now I have to decide if this is a big enough inconvenience for me to return the lens and lose use of it for awhile. If you see a whacko around Perimeter Mall taking photos at lunch, honk your horn to say hello.

I'll Take "Arrowhead Stadium" For 74,000 Please, Alex
Last night Meet The Hashers gathered at Taco Mac in the Highlands for Team Trivia. While we were not at the top of our game (I should have remembered that this was the first season since 1979 that the St Louis Blues have missed the hockey playoffs!!!) we managed to "finish" the game tied for second place. The host called for team representatives (which was me last night) to come up and get a tie-breaker question.

What is the seating capacity of Arrowhead Stadium?

The team which came closest to the actual seating capacity would take second place.

Knowing Midwesterners are nuts for their football I knew that the number would be high, but not as ridiculously high as something like "The Big House" in Ann Arbor. My best guess was 74,000. The answer I found on the Internets this morning is 79,451. The team we were playing against turned in an answer that was eight seats further away from our guess (they went over, we were under), thus we claimed second place.

Google Is My Calculator
I may have blogged about this before, but do you know that if you enter a mathematical formula into Google's search bar it will parse it and provide an answer? Why bother trying to find that calculator application on whatever operating system you are using, simply Google the answer!

I calculated the height of my photos today, knowing that I needed them to be 80% of the original height of 333 pixels, using this formula 333 * .8

What Day Is It Today? Tuesday!!!
And I admit that I don't know much about the bands releasing CDs today. While I know The Dixie Chicks I've never been a fan. Mission Of Burma is playing the Pitchfork Music Festival (my Chicago trip) so I suppose that I should attempt to familiarize myself with their music.

It's that simple Kids! Today I will suggest that you check out Mission Of Burma's release of "The Obliterati." Like we say around the office "It's not rocket science."

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - feeling like I've got my first poison ivy of the year
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Gomez -- "Hamoa Beach"
Website Of The Day - Morigami!!! If you liked last week's origami link, go check out Origami Tessillations. (thanks Sarah!)

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing but walking around Piedmont Park (BOO! HISS!)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Hardly Getting Over It

2006-05-22T07:20:00.000-04:00

Twisted Ankle: A Great Photo Shoot Spoiled
Picture in your mind a beautiful state park in Northwest Georgia. Picture in your mind a picturesque lake with fauna, and breathtaking views with flora. Got them? Good, because those are the only images from my past weekend you will see.

On Friday I had planned to drive up to Summerville, set up my tent and then go for a little hike and a drive into Summerville all the while carrying my camera. When I got up there, some of my friends had already arrived and together we started drinking while attempting to guard a few select camping spots for the friends that were yet to arrive. Who am I to leave a fun group situation to go away alone? A quick trip to town to purchase food and beer was all I managed.

Saturday's Twisted Ankle half marathon was once again challenging. If you ignore the three friends who completed the half marathon in a shorter time, then I finished first amongst my friends. And for those that ran the marathon? Holy shit did I kick their collective asses!

In all seriousness, the day was warm, warmer than this Clydesdale (who ironically will drink almost any beer except Budweiser) who didn't train nearly enough enjoys. My calves began cramping around mile nine, which if you know anything about a half marathon, is about four-point-miles before one wants this to occur. I'm not saying that without the cramping I would have passed any of my friends who finished before I did, but I would have broken the three-hour mark (those of you scoffing at a three-hour half marathon need to go out and run this course before doing so). Maybe next year? I'll have to wait until the memory of the pain from this year subsides.

Once the race was over there was no way in hell that I was going to hike back out with the camera in hand to take photos.

Sunday Achy Sunday
I had huge plans for Sunday, many of those went by the wayside thanks to aches, need for sleep, and a battle with allergies.

Two major accomplishments occurred, the purchasing of a Frommer's travel guide for Chicago (trying to be optomistic for my July trip) at Borders

and lunch with some great friends.

One major accomplishment did not however, as I decided that I have been pushing the limits a bit too often recently and chose not to go see the Flaming Lips in concert. I also could fathom the thought of being around a slew of free concert-goers. Had this been a ticketed event my decision may have been changed.

Not "If" But "When"
This is my renewed attitude toward exercising. I was reminded often this weekend that I used to be in much better shape, and that if I want an improved attitude I will have to return to the daily hard work that I used to perform.

The "gym bag" has been packed with running attire, it's now up to me to use them.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - still achy and run down, perhaps it's not allergies afterall
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Margot & The Nuclear So And So's -- "Quiet As A Mouse"
Website Of The Day - I love free wifi. Apparently, so do the people at I Love Free WiFi which is a new community for listing free wifi hotspots.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - 13.1 miles of trail running Saturday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Winding Down To Wind Up The Week

2006-05-19T08:11:00.000-04:00

Well, I Thought I Was Going To See Live Music
I really need to stop buying tickets for shows and then bailing. Last night I just could not get motivated to go out. I think waking up at 5:30am had something to do with it, but I really think I just couldn't get worked up to go out.

Post-Survivor Blues
Wow, while staying at home on a Thursday night I actually missed being able to watch Survivor. Who would have thunk it?

At Least Someone I Know Is Exercising
This is one of my many toys in the office. His yellow arms are scrawny, but he can hold this pose for days.

My Turn Comes Tomorrow
Tomorrow I will in Summerville Georgia, more specifically in James "Sloppy" Floyd State Park to run the second annual Twisted Ankle Half Marathon. I ran (if you can call the speed at which I completed it running) this course last year. In theory I'll be in better shape this year, although I am not expecting to make great gains...

And Last But Certainly Not Least
There's a little concert going on this weekend downtown. The only bad thing about the concert is that it is free. Now I'm a Democrat (or Libertarian depending on your definition) so I don't mind free things, but free concerts are generally the worst. Free concerts bring out thousands of people who go to only because it's free, thereby oftentimes ruining the experience for those of us there for the music. I'll be there on Sunday night (probably annoyed by the crowd) to see The Flaming Lips. Come back here on Monday because you are guaranteed that I will have stories...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - out of the loop
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Replacements -- "Message To The Boys"
Website Of The Day - You may think that I bring you a whole lot of nothing, bere here's a blog called Whole Lotta Nothing that actually advertises the fact.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Speak Loudly, I Am In Suwanee Today

2006-05-18T06:08:00.000-04:00

It's a full day of training for me today. I am currently in a far away land known as Suwanee. Yikes!

Chicago On $200 A Day?
When I first decided to go to Chicago a few months ago I considered to be an inexpensive alternative to going "across the pond" for the first time. It's Chicago, midwest living, how expensive could it be? The answer is "very expensive."

While I was able to convert SkyMiles for my flight, I don't have the same luxury for a hotel room. If you've been reading my blog since my trip to Manhattan last year you know that I usually travel solo (and don't like to, which is why I travel infrequently) and don't require a stay in the Four Seasons to have a pleasant stay. Let me re-introduce you to the Shoilet that was in the Hotel Thirty Thirty that I stayed at last year.

(click through to get a better look -- if you dare)

For the last two weeks I've been searching for a Chicago hotel that is

in Chicago
not a complete shithole
costs less than $150/night before taxes, fees, etc

It's been very hard to find such a room. Even at $150/night my four-night stay will wind up costing my $800 (once you add in all the taxes, etc) for the hotel room alone! Tack on food, beer, and other entertainment expenses I'm looking at a Chicago trip which costs nearly the same as a new computer.

I am really having a hard time rationalizing this and am thinking about bagging the trip completely.

Any BellSouth DSL Customers Out There?
I'm considering switching DSL providers. My connection is okay, but not stellar especially for what I am paying. I admit to not being a big fan of BellSouth because I think that I am paying a lot for minimal land-line phone services (which I cannot drop), but I am willing to consider them as an option if I get enough rave reviews.

Back On The Live Music Circuit
Tonight I'll be back at The EARL, this time to see Pretty Girls Make Graves. I don't know much about the band, but since I am only working a partial day tomorrow I am willing to investigate on a School Night.

What A Bunch Of Flags!
SKIP NOW if you didn't watch last night.

While I was somewhat unimpressed with the grand finale of The Amazing Race I was pleased to see the Hippies win it all. There was just something about the Frat Boys that bugged the shit out of me.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - in pain, I have a pinched nerve in my neck
Current Music - nothing today
Website Of The Day - Seek inner peace by checking out the origami art of Richard Sweeney.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing (a-gain)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, None Of That Is Given To Me

2006-05-17T08:03:00.000-04:00

Mac In Black?
Yesterday Apple introduced the much anticipated MacBook. It's the 13.3" widescreen laptop which replaces the iBook series. Apple has decided that people should now also be able to ejoy a laptop in black in addition to white, only for certain models however. It's like ebony and ivory. The song title puns cannot be stopped!

Now I Know My Alpha, Beta, Gammas
After coming back from lunch yesterday I swung by Flickr and something struck me as being slightly different. When I looked at Flickr's logo I realized that they have transitioned from Beta to Gamma. It looks like the change consists of mostly menu changes, and not having to go to other pages to select menu items, but change has occurred.

Want to check out the new version? Click on the picture below (it will also allow you to see my other fantastic works of art that I call photos).

Like Rodney Dangerfield I Get No Respect
Twice in the past two weeks I've try to play "Scoop the Reporter" and rush a story to one of the Big Blogs in hopes of getting some recognition. (the Flickr story was one of these stories) On both occasions the only recognition I received was as part of a "Thanks to everyone who reported this" mention. I tell you, I get no respect.

Down The Hatch
Richard Hatch, the winner of Survivor 1 has been sentenced to fifty-one months in jail for tax evasion. Ouch! As always you can pay The Man now, or pay him later.

I just hope that my sentence isn't that steep if GA Law officials say that I gypped the toll booth on 400 by a quarter. The arm was raised and the green light which reads "Thank You" was on, so I assumed that it correctly read all 50-cents that I dropped into the basket. I really don't want to lose my recently re-obtained virginity to a man. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

No George's Again?
Microsoft's Outlook has a major problem scheduling meetings for participants in different time zones. I found out that the meeting which I thought was to last until 7pm tonight, really is supposed to only last until 5pm. This meeting was scheduled by someone in Denver, hence the Mountain - Eastern time zone differential. Because of this I didn't pack anything for running tonight. Perhaps I'll show for a beer.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - in pain, I have a pinched nerve in my neck
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Husker Du -- "Could You Be The One"
Website Of The Day - If you've never been to The Smoking Gun, where have you been?.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - zilch

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Not Feeling The href Love Today

2006-05-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

This post is almost completely devoid of hyperlinks. Why? Because I am lazy.

Trivia Interruptus
Well, the plan was to have Meet The Hashers meet up and play trivia at the newly-relocated Johnny's Pizza in the Old Fourth Ward last night. That plan lasted all of one and one-half question, at least for me. The trivia hostess had a mirade of microphone issues and I couldn't be bothered to stay all night and watch her attempt to troubleshoot her problems, so I left.

The new Johnny's location, formerly occupied by Jake's Ice Cream, is a maze of small, connected rooms which, at least until the weather is suitable for patio sitting, is not very conducive to larger groups; Meet The Hashers usually averages eight players.

How Would You Shoot This Differently?
The answers "Why bother." or "Throw it out." are not the sort of criticism I seek here. I think this could be a rather interesting shot, but I don't think that I've executed it perfectly. I can easily get back to this location for a re-shoot, I'm seeking some advice as to what I should do differently next time.

I was trying to capture the series of gas pipes in the image as if they part of a grand pipe organ found in cathedrals.

The Wasting Is The Hardest Part
Admittedly my weight-loss program is not a smashing success. I love to eat (and drink beer, but that's a different posting). One of the things that was drilled into my head by depression-era parents is that food is sacred and should not be wasted. I was trained to "clean my plate" and to "take what you can eat, and eat what you take." On the surface this seems like sound advice.

This morning I stopped at Joe's coffee (yes, Ellen was working), and picked up a blueberry muffin in addition to my morning coffee. The muffin was your typical repackaged Mondo Muffin from Sam's Club or Costco. After eating about two-thirds of the muffin I smooshed the rest into the cling wrap and tossed it into the trash. I felt the wrath of my mother's voice asking me why I was wasting food as I did so.

Mental conditioning, it's not just for breakfast any longer.

It's A New Music Tuesday
What happens when Jack White and Brendon Benson form a side-project group? I select their release as my "CD Pick of the Week", that's what. The newly-formed project known as "The Raconteurs" have a cd in stores today called "Broken Boy Soldiers".

Tessa over at Drive A Faster Car posted some 411 and a link to one of the songs on this cd in this here post. Check it out. Go ahead, I know that you want to...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair (which if you've been paying attention is a 30-day high)
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Mates Of State -- "Fraud In The '80s"
Website Of The Day - At Johnny's trivia we can earn an extra five points if we can identify a movie scene in which the actors' images have been removed. Think you want to give it a shot? Swing by FilmWise and give it a shot.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nuttin'

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Beer, Swamp, Survivor. A Mostly Successful Weekend.

2006-05-15T08:09:00.000-04:00

When forty-eight hours doesn't seem like enough time to do the things I've planned, and I've had to opt out of at least two more things (nevermind still not moving this blog to Wordpress) I know that I need to find a way to plan better.

I'm Too Shifty
What can I say, I was having so much fun working the Thomas Creek tent that I didn't stop working until about 5:15pm eventhough my shift ended at 4:00pm. Of course I was sampling the beer whilst "working", which never hurts my commitment level.

The booth was hopping (get it? beer. hops. okay, bad joke.) as can be seen in this action photo snapped by fellow blogger Mark.

My name sticker originally read "Available, Inquire Within", but was later ammended by some (married) gal to read "Occasionally Available, Inquire Within (O.B.O.)" because she said the original version sounded too desperate. Either way it didn't work.

I saw many of my friends and fellow bloggers, too many to list, throughout the day. I also got to serve and briefly chat with some of the guys from National Grain who played a set at the festival. I was amused how surprised they were when I said that not only had I heard of them but that I also owned their CD.

The only downside of the day is that the festival was so popular that we had leave the East Atlanta Village to eat. My friends Darren, Laura, and I wound up in Oakhurst eating at Universal Joint where I feasted on a hamburger and some spicy chicken spring rolls (I really needed meat).

In The Swamps of Loganville?
Yes Virginia, Loganville possesses swamps and I think that yesterday's Black Sheep Hash went through almost each and every one. Recently hashing has frustrated me a bit as I realize that I am getting slower. When I arrive at the end and people who I think that I should have been able to keep up with are already in stirs my internal competitive engine. I must keep repeating our beliefs that "The Hash is not a race." and "There are no winners in the hash, we're all losers."

I can't complain too much however as I did get plenty of exercise (slogging through swamp is hard work) and I've found a couple of locations that I want to capture with the camera.

It's A Wrap!
Well, the person I predicted to win Survivor last night won, however the person I wanted to win (Terry) did not.

As Stacy, Phil, Bill and I watched Danielle's fire finally burn through the string (I knew that Mark Burnett's editing team was fucking with our heads last Thursday) I predicted that Arse was going to win the million dollars. I still believe Danielle misstepped when she brought Arse over Terry, eventhough the Jeff Probst's straw poll on the reunion show indicated otherwise.

Btw- Is Terry's last name "Breeder" because holy shit there were a lot of children in his Family Moment. He should have been given a second SUV instead of giving it to Cerie.

Using My Brain For Good Not Evil
I'm trying to rally Meet The Hashers to play trivia at the newly-relocated Johnny's Pizza tonight. I'm craving some Za (80's slang) and I can make it vegetarian. I am interested to see what they've done to the place. Besides, if I don't go to Taco Mac I won't feeled compelled to drink beer.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - worn out, two+ hours of hashing killed me
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing The M's -- "Plan Of The Man"
Website Of The Day - I'm a sucker for "found item" sites. Here is one that collects found grocery lists, appropriately called The Grocery List Collection. I keep looking for one that has two items on it, BEER, LOTTERY TICKETS.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - hashing on Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Memo To Mother Nature

2006-05-13T11:30:00.000-04:00

Re: For Raining On The Day of Notoberfest

FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCK!

Beer, Glorious Beer!

2006-05-11T08:45:00.000-04:00

Rocky Mountain Oysters?
Hells No! I had Rocky Mountain's chicken wings. As I mentioned yesterday I met up with my buddy Darren at Rocky Mountain Pizza Company last night.

Damn the wings were good, and to further enhance my experience the bottles of Smithwick's I had last night cost $2.50 each. That's no typo my friends, Smithwick's (and various other decent beers) costs a mere $2.50 each and every day at Rocky Mountain! Don't get me wrong, I love my East Atlanta haunts and will continue to frequent them, but damn(!), two-fiddy?!? I am sure that I can do a few photo strolls over the Tech way and wind up at Rocky Mountain for a cold one afterwards.

Last night they were also having Team Trivia at Rocky Mountain. The team sitting behind me were cheating big time, oh how I miss being in college. I even helped them with an answer "Bob Jones University" -- go make up your own question.

Why Did The Geese Cross The Road?
I guess it was to eat. On my drive from filling up the Jackmobile with $42 worth of gas to the office this morning a gaggle of geese, many of which were goslings (why do they have special terms for geese?) decided to walk across the road in front of traffic. Miraculously none of the geese nor any of the drivers were harmed in the impromptu road crossing.

There's No Crying In The Amazing Race!
Did you watch?
I'm happy.
Are you?

Smiling Pretty
There are probably levels of Hell awaiting my arrival. This morning I have my semi-annual dental check-up and cleaning. In honor of this event I am eating a Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif Bar, ooh they have more calories than I imagined, for breakfast. It's not as bad as stuffing a bunch of Oreo cookies in my mouth, but I'm sure it's not that different.

Call it sweet revenge for all of the pain I've suffered in the dental chair in my lifetime.

It's A "Happy Birthday" Day
My friend Phil is having a birthday today, this makes him one more than thirty-five. The best thing about Phil's birthday, at least from my perspective, is that we are all meeting up at Taco Mac after work for a party. Woo Hoo. While there I will get to add to my list of passport beers, get a free glass (is it tacky to then turn around and hand it to Phil as my birthday gift? What if I stick a bow on it), and curse myself for already using my two-days of meat eating (I'll be the one with the veggies in front of me).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - tired, missing the sun
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Beck -- "Beercan"
Website Of The Day - Since I am often frustrated at my photos I should visit Digital Photography School and learn a few things.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I Oughta Be In Pictures

2006-05-10T08:05:00.000-04:00

They Call Me The Early Bird Special
My early work schedule and 6:15pm Photography class caused me to eat an early dinner. I guess I'm practicing for when I am 80, like the majority of the people around me at Lettuce Souprise You last night. Yeah, I ate vegetarian again last night. So far I am sticking to the plan pretty well. There have been minor slipups such as when I opened the can of Bush's Baked Beans yesterday without remembering that hunk of pork which swims in most cans of beans (I am proud to admit that I did my best to fish it out and toss it, however).

Tonight will be a different story. Tonight I am skipping the George's run (it's going to be nasty weather anyway) and going to get a large plate of chicken wings placed in front of me when I meet up with my friend Darren. I've been Jonesin' for Rocky Mountain Pizza Co's wings since I had them there a few months ago. And there will be beer. Much beer.

Tag I'm It
I spent a good bit of time last night adding more tags to my Flickr photographs. I realized that I was a little too stingy with my tags. My new philosophy, at least for shots that are identifiable for an area is

Country (if none US assumed) : State : City : Neighborhood : Main Subjects : Minor Identifiers

For instance, if I were to format the tags for this shot it would look something like

(none) : Georgia : Chamblee : (none) : signage, advertising : paint, blogged

Um This Is Digital 102, Right?
Week two of my Digital 102 class was last night. Unlike 101, 102's makeup is mostly younger people (around my age and younger). Almost all of the class participated in 101 together, so a couple of us have a familiarity learning curve to overcome.

Last night I noticed that many of the shots submitted for critique had been altered in Photoshop, or some equivalent, and the suggestion made for one of my shots was to take it into Photoshop and alter the colors. I thought that the purpose of these classes was to learn how to capture what we see (as well as some things overlooked by the human eyes) onto digital film. If I'm going to alter my shots significantly what was the point of buying an SLR and trying to learn how to use it?

Meh, perhaps I'm too much of a stickler for details.

Cancel That, I'm Shopping Elsewhere
Since joining the Amazon Prime world I have been looking to them first for all of my purchases. Six weeks or so ago I placed an order for this zoom lens for my camera. The price was right and lack of sales tax with the free two day shipping was going to make it a super purchase. The problem was that it was on backorder, to be filled by the end of April. When the schedule time for order fulfillment passed Amazon let me know that the new time frame for my purchase was going to be the beginning of June. Fuck! That!

Last night I found out that Newegg had the same lens for the same price, in stock, and they were going to charge only $5 for three-day UPS delivery!

Amazon order canceled. Newegg order placed. I can't wait.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - sneezing, hopefully from alergies not a Spring cold
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Camera Obscura -- "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken"
Website Of The Day - Maybe I should give up photography and join the Stencil Revolution.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, this week is not shaping up to be one that gets me in shape

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It's 5/9 : Sounds Like The Pefect Height To Me

2006-05-09T08:40:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid I always wanted to grow up to be six-feet tall. However, my genetics deemed that I stop growing (vertically) at five feet, nine inches. Eh, being 5'9" certainly has advantages -- I can fit in any car comfortably and leg room in a plane is not really that much of an issue for me.

In Land We Trust
After receiving a phone call from Mark I changed my plans from rushing home to get a bike ride to meeting up at La Fonda Latina (veggie tacos) and then walking over to the Lake Claire Community Land Trust to do a photo stroll.

Like me, Mark is a new owner of a Nikon D50 so we are both learning how to use this new beast. I guess I snapped about twenty shots, at least fifteen of them hit the trash bin when I got home and uploaded them to my Mac. You see, I've still not mastered my aperture settings, and it wasn't until late in the shoot (after the sun had disappeared from view) that Mark mentioned shooting at a higher ISO and I realized that I was still at ISO 200. *slaps hand upon forehead repeatedly* Therefore many of my shots required a slower shutter speed than my shaky hands could accomodate (one of the two reasons I didn't become a doctor), resulting in out of focus shots. Well, at least the Land Trust is close to home...

For Once My Timing Was Almost Perfect
On the drive from work to meet Mark my "brake lamp" light came on. No biggie, I'm certainly capable of replacing a lightbulb (it takes but one Paulie to screw in a lightbulb). What brought a rye smile to my face was that this happened just after I had passed an auto parts store, while turning from Clairmont onto Buford Highway! Had it happened a block earlier I was in the right place at exaclty the right time.

Luckily I used to work near Buford Highway and North Druid Hills (oh, how I miss that) and am a rather observant individual. My grimace became a smile as I remembered that there was another auto parts store not more than two miles ahead. I pulled into their parking lot, determined which bulb had burned out, went into the store, and replaced the bulb on the spot. It wasn't exactly performed at NASCAR speed, but it was done efficiently, if I do say so myself.

And On The Eighth Day Paulie Obtained .Net
Before I start let me say how hard it was for me to convince myself that I had spelled "eighth" correctly.

Whilst doing a vanity search (why not?) on Sunday I came across a mention that the owners of www.InsideThePerimeter.net had let their domain registration expire. (this makes yesterday's mention about my GoDaddy frustrations abundantly clear now, doesn't it?)

Like a vulture swooping down upon roadkill I snatched it up yesterday. Thanks to k1ng I used the "777" code provided and did a domain registration and signed up for a year of hosting at Dream Host for $10. After seeing the site I kicked myself in the ass because I realized that this was the hosting service that Maigh suggested. For some reason I confused Blue Host for Dream Host so now I have hosting at each for the next year. :S

Let The Drooling Begin
I. Cannot. Wait.

(photo stolen from Engadget)

Yes, I am still a child at heart...

CD Pick Of The Week
Last week's pick, Gomez, was an easy one because I knew that I was going to see them perform later in the week. This week's pick, Grandaddy's "Just Like The Fambly Cat", is an easy pick because this will be their final production and I will never get to see them in concert. I picked up a promo copy of "Just Like The Fambly Cat" (because I still don't have enough clout to be sent them for free) two weeks ago and have spun it on the iPod a few times. To me the sound is, well, Grandaddy.

If you are not into Grandaddy's sound, or don't wish to support a band's swan song cd, there are a few other cds of note released today.

Indie music favs Snow Patrol release a new cd today called "Eyes Open." If memory serves my they are performing to a sold out crowd later this month. Obviously I don't have a ticket...

The Pearl Jam crowd may be interested to know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers release a double-cd today (so that's what they've been doing all these years!). The Peppers were a bit peeved last week when their new cd was leaked on the internets. While I cannot blame them for being mad, it is a bit naive to think that this sort of thing doesn't happen for almost every cd produced (although I don't know who would spend the time to leak the Nick Lachey cd which drops today).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - otiose, undeveloped
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing R.E.M. -- "Harborcoat"
Website Of The Day - I normally won't pimp the behemoths like AOL, but when they are streaming full cds for free I'll show them some love. I understand that they do this only to get you to buy cds, but I figure that I am going to do that anyway...

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - ~~really long, hard bike ride~~ photo stroll

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I Was On Exile Island This Weekend

2006-05-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

I am starting to understand trolls. Not the internet variety, but rather the trolls that live alone under bridges. This weekend I was hardpressed to go out and be around people. I'd tell you why, but then you'd probably want $125/hr to read my blog and frankly I can't bring myself to pay it.

I overcame my reclusiveness by having lunch with a friend on Saturday on Saturday at Neighbors in VaHi, having brunch with the running group on Sunday (weather made "run & brunch" just "brunch") and then having corned beef at Twain's on Sunday. Other than that I was home, catching up on recorded programs, surfing the internets.

GrrrDaddy
Last night I tried to register a domain from GoDaddy. I chose GoDaddy because they advertise on (sponsor?) many of the podcasts that I listen to, and each of these podcasts usually has a discount code. The last time I tried this (registering eatlga.com) I had difficulty getting their website to apply the discount. It appeared that the site recognized the code I entered, and then completely ignored it by showing a discount of $.00. To get the problem rectified I had to send an email to the person whose podcast I received the code so that they could inform GoDaddy of the problem.

Last night I had the same difficulty. WTF GoDaddy?!? Are you hoping that consumers won't notice and complete the order without the discount, or are you developers so incompetent that they cannot get this to work?

If you have a better registrar suggestion, please send it to me or leave a comment.

Framing The Art That Exists Outside The Museum
This is the only picture that I took inside the High (using the pocket point-and-shoot) that came out half decently.

Is There Such A Thing As "Photographers' Block"?
I have heard of Writers' Block, the inability to think of anything to write when you have something to submit. I am suffering the same fate on the photography side right now. All weekend long I looked for images that would satisfy the word list that I posted on Friday. Nothing! Man this really blows. I am feeling so uncreative at the moment.

Ending On A Positive Note
One of the programs I watched over the weekend mentioned a Windows program that makes it possible to play the songs resident on your iPod through a computer. The program is called PodPlayer. I've not yet had the opportunity to try it because all of the PCs at my house have access to my iTunes library directly. However, I intend to give it a shot when I drag the Windows laptop out into the "real world." When I do, I'll give you all an update.

For those Mac users out there (of which I am one as well) there is another app called Senuti which supposedly performs the same task.

I understand why Apple doesn't let you copy songs from your iPod to a computer (psst, these applications do that as well) but I've never understood why they wouldn't let you play songs which live on your iPod through iTunes.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - uninspired, depressed
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Built To Spill -- "Conventional Wisdom"
Website Of The Day - One of the things I saw this weekend was an awesome animated music video done by Nylon Motion. Go poke around their site and see if anything stimulates you.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing all weekend -- bad mood, bad timing, bad weather

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Stinko de Mayo

2006-05-05T09:20:00.000-04:00

If I decide to go drinking tonight you'll either find me at Limerick Junction in VaHi or somewhere in East Atlanta. You'll definitely not find me at one of the many Mexican establishments that will be jammed packed with people. For many different reasons I really don't need to be around the "it" crowd tonight.

And Me Without A Camera, Again
I never would have suspected that for an act as big as Gomez that I could easily be centerstage, three people deep. And did I bring my camera? Noooooo. Last night I found out that the only things worse than being stuck behind a really tall person when standing on the floor is being near a couple that constantly grinds on each other, and being behind a guy with no rythm who rocked back and forth like he was Rain Man. I swear I was tempted find a box of matches so that I could drop them and see if Rain Man could count the ones on the floor. I had had enough after about five songs and moved from the floor to the seats.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, Gomez had a new cd drop on Tuesday. I waited until the show to pick up my copy, and was rewarded with an extra cd insert which was signed by the band (there'd be a picture of it here today had I not gotten home near 1am).

The show was predictably enjoyable for me. Gomez, consisting of six members, has a rich sound and songs with great hooks (if you've listened to "alternative" radio in the past ten years you've undoubtedly heard at least one of their songs). The band members really looked like they were enjoying themselves, and they played a set consisting of many new songs peppered with crowd-pleasing band hits. Perhaps my only frustration with the show (that has not been previously mentioned) was the nearly forty-minute delay between the opening act, Atlanta residents I-Nine, and Gomez. Seriously, could it take that long to get things checked?

Spring Training
Observing Lent-For-A-Day I rode Marta into work this morning. One hour, door to door. Given the current price of gas I was surprised that the train wasn't more crowded; surprised, but pleased. As I've mentioned it's not the morning commute which brings reward when train commuting, so I am anxious to see what my commute home is like tonight.

Open For Interpretation
For my Digital 102 class I have an assignment which requires me to take two photos. Each of these two photos should capture the essence of one of the following words.

fast
slow
lost
found
soft
new
old
open
together
alone
wild

My challenge to you is to tell me what you think of when you hear these words...

Is There A .mac In The House?
I'm a target. Admittedly I have not done a good job backing up my data (either on Windows or OSX) and am ready to openly sob when one of my main drives goes south.

I've been searching for a good solution to back up my Mac data. One ($99/year) option is to go through Apple using their .mac solution. Has anyone out there used .mac for thier solution? If not and you are a Mac user do you have a better solution? Thanks!

Sunday Will Be A Meat Day
This Sunday is a NY Corned Beef Society of Atlanta Sunday at Twain's in Decatur. I find that while attempting to stick to this 5/7ths vegetarian thing that days that allow myself to eat meat become big event days. Therefore this Sunday around 4pm you will find me drinking beer and eating some meat at Twain's. Won't you join me?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - really tired and harried
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing The Jesus & Mary Chain -- "Happy When It Rains"
Website Of The Day - Want to see what cool things are coming our way? Want to promote cool things that are coming our way? Then go sign up and use Upcoming.org. I'll give you three guesses to come up with my account name, the first two don't count...

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Ode To Be Normal

2006-05-04T07:20:00.000-04:00

"I consider every day I don't contemplate suicide a success.
It's been a long time since I have been successful."

Sometimes life is not all fun and games.

Boulvard Of Broken Dreams
I know that I misspelled "Boulevard", that's key to this story. Well, that and the age-old edict that "Timing is Everything."

A few weeks ago on a return trip home from downtown I noticed a street sign which marked the corner of Boulevard and Highland Av. On the other side of the intersection was a similar construct which marked the intersection of Boulvard and Highland Av.

The misspelling of street signs is hardly earth-shaking news, but I thought that the juxtaposition of the two signs would make for an interesting photograph. Of course when I went to shoot it the other day the misspelled sign had been removed by someone.

Yes, timing is everything...

You Have To Walk Before You Can Run, But When You Can't Run You Have To Walk
Whew, just typing that made me tired.

Last night I didn't have "it", where "it" is whatever drives one to keep running even when all parts of the body scream "no!". Luckily for me my friend Betsy also wasn't in the mood to endure the difficulties of running, so we decided to walk the last two miles of our George's run last night.

Admittedly the beer doesn't taste nearly as rewarding when failing to achieve the appointed task, but I managed to drink two regardless.

Spring Training?
You would think that a $42 fill up this morning would motivate me to become a dedicated train rider once again. It has not.

There is an addiction, whether it be the 25-minute morning commute (instead of an hour), not having to deal with anyone else, carrying as much shit around with me in my trunk as I desire, whatever, but that addiction exists. Yes Mr. President -- I am addicted to oil.

For Cinco de Mayo I am going to make an effort to give up my addiction for a day; let's call it Lent-For-A-Day.

It's Tough To Be A Vegetarian
Thursday is a meat day. At least today will be. It's not that I awoke craving meat, in fact just the opposite. However after gassing up the car this morning I went into the Quicky Mart to buy a biscuit/croissant/bagel/pancake sandwich/burrito, actually anything that would fill my stomach this morning. Every single option contained meat, whether it be ham, bacon, sausage, or ground beef. It wasn't like there were empty slots where the veggie options were, there were just no veggie (egg only) options!

So today is a meat day. Oh boy, I can't wait for lunch now!

Good Day At The Brewery? Bad Day At The Brewery?
The other day I opened a twelve-pack of delicious Sweetwater 420. When I pulled out this bottle I felt a little like Charlie when he found the Golden Ticket

Sure the outer label was mangled, but I thought it was cool that my bottle had two labels! Sometimes it's the little things that keep me going.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - tired and conflicted
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing The Streets -- "Never Went To Church"
Website Of The Day - Remember The Milk (btw- "my cow" Stacy and Phil) is a little Web2.0 To Do list application. Someday when every device we possess has net access these Web2.0 apps will be incredibly cool.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - walking/running, 4.75 miles

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Check Please!

2006-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Is It Possible For My Brain To Work Even Less?
Yesterday I decided to join my friend Barb and volunteer as Crew for the Atlanta 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer to be held on September 16-17. It sounded like a good time in mid-September so I happily logged on and ponied up my $50 to be part of the crew. Then last night it hit me that this was the same weekend as the wedding for one of my good friends. I have this wedding noted on two different calendars, but did I think to check either before spending the $50? Nope. What a fucking dumbass I can be sometimes... The only consolation is the hope that my money might help out somewhere. So. Fucking. Stupid.

Allow Me To Rant
Apple is now on my shit list. To be specific, apple.com is on the list. Yesterday at the office I needed to look up something on the Apple website and found that they have inserted a Quicktime ad with audio on their homepage. Imagine my embarrassment when this started blaring from my computer speakers. To make matters worse there are no volume controls on their webpage, so I was forced to dismiss their page as quickly as I could.

C'mon web developers, THINK before you create.

Working Toward Greener Pastures
Hey Paulie, what's up with EATLGA.com and when are you finally moving away from Blogger?

Well, that's a fine set of questions little Timmy.

Yes all, I am finally and far too slowly making the move away from Blogger. I've have contracted with Blue Host for a year's worth of hosting and now am trying to figure out how to do this whole CSS thing. In the short term if you want to have a giggle or two check out www.eatlga.com and that will take you to the new site (actually there is nothing there yet so be patient -- give me at least another week). I will update www.InsideThePerimeter.com and www.eatlga.com in parallel until the big cutover day when there will be all sorts of pomp and circumstance associated with the move.

btw- Anyone who is eager to help me can feel free to speak up. Thanks. :)

Oh Showcase, Why Did You?
Last night marked week one of Digital 102 at Showcase. As expected this was a review week of Digital 101 with some added techniques that appears my camera can't do. :(

Unfortunately, in addition to the $10 increase in the cost of the fee they have also decided to cut the size of the instruction room in hald by pulling closed a collapsible divider while keeping the size of attendance the same. So now not only are we more cramped in the room we can hear another class being taught on the other side of the partition. Unless I am guaranteed that this will not take place next session I doubt that I will be signing up for any future classes.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - back to meh
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Arctic Monkeys -- "A Certain Romance"
Website Of The Day - Maybe I should just donate smaller denominations to many different charities using Give Meaning.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

This One Is Biggie Sized

2006-05-02T07:52:00.000-04:00

Craving Something Different
I have to hurry and make a blog entry about my dinner at East Atlanta's newest restaurant Crave (nfws) before everyone else takes all of the clever play on words surrounding its name. For those of you who are addicted to Yelp, you may want to skip a head because this will be a Very Special Encore of my Yelp entry for Crave.

"I made my first trip to the newly-opened Crave this evening. Crave has garnered some attention this week thanks to a review in the Creative Loafing.

Being hungry I decided to try a starter and entree.

The starter I ordered was Andouille Queso which was served with deep fried pita chips. The chips were good, the queso I was not thrilled with. I guess I was expecting white cheese with either chunks of sausage or ground sausage. Instead the cheese was an orange melted cheese and the sausage was almost non-existent.

My entree on the other hand was fantastic. I ordered the braised short ribs served with bock choy over a bed of jalepeno grits. All components "worked". The beef was succulent and the jalepeno grits provided a nice, spicy foil.

The food was consumed with a lovely beer."

He'll Be Coming Around The Mountain
Don't I wish...

Yesterday's exercise consisted of a bike outing of thirty-five miles from the Candler Park Marta station to Stone Mountain and back. About three miles from my completion one of my pedals malfunctioned and I had to hobble back using the DeKalb Path and McLendon Avenue in an effort to avoid traffic. I sort of knew something was up with the pedal because entering and exiting it seemed a little different than in my past rides. Perhaps this is the impetus needed to buy some new pedals and shoes (finally!).

The ride I took on Saturday afternoon nearly cost me big time. When riding solo I am a proponent of packing ID in case something happens to me. You know, to identify the body, that sort of thing... Anyway, I seemed to forget this detail at the end of Saturday's ride and didn't discover my error until Monday morning. That meant I went a day and a half of driving without having my driver's license on me. Luckily none of Atlanta's Finest decided that I was a threat on the roads this weekend... So, do any of you athletes have a suggestion for a substitute ID that will work for riding and running?

When RealiTV Collides
Being a huge fan of Iron Chef as well as a fan (and one-time short-term employee of) Alton Brown (who I believe still lives in the area) it was a natural for me to watch the American version of Iron Chef when it started up a few years ago.

Being a fan of BBC America as well as the shows they made starring chef Gordon Ramsey it was a natural for me to watch the Hell's Kitchen when Fox aired it last year.

On Sunday night (at least that's when it was recorded to my Dish Network DVR) these two worlds collided when Hell's Kitchen runner-up Ralph Pagano was the challenger on Iron Chef America. It was kind of odd, like when you find out that you have common friends with co-workers.

What Pops Music Into Our Heads?
Occasionally I am able to determine why a certain song enters my brain after years of absence. It usually has something to do with an old movie I've been watching, a tv commercial which has adopted the song or band, or something associated with a phrase that I've heard recently.

However none of those explanations cover the reason for me singing (in my head at least) "Stop Making Sense" by the Talking Heads this morning. I've owned the cd for the past 15-20 years, but couldn't tell you the last time I played it. One of the many good things about owning an iPod which can store one's entire music collection is that in a case like this you can feed the monster by playing the cd on your way into work; at least that's what I did this morning.

CD Pick Of The Week
This week's pick is a slam dunk! Considering that I am a big Gomez fan and that I am going to see them in concert when the play the Variety Playhouse on Thursday night it's easy for me to pick their release of "How We Operate" as my pick this week.

Gomez not your cup of tea? Okay, there are a few other interesting releases in today's drop.

You could always go Old School and pick up one of the releases from Pearl Jam or Tool. I own previous releases from each (and saw Tool in concert circa 1993 in New Orleans at Lollapalooza), so those intrigue me as well. The Pearl Jam disc has been receiving some love on the Blogosphere as well. Check around, you'll find some.

Not Old School enough? Well my friend Neil Young is releasing a war protest album (it's really a cd but this is Neil Young I'm typing about so album seems more apropos) today. Feed your inner-hippy and go buy it. Play it on your iPod at the next anti-war rally and you'll have all the bases covered.

Too much testosterone? Alrighty then, everybody's second favorite Alaskan (Maigh should be on the top of your list) Jewel also releases a cd titled "Goodbye Alice In Wonderland" today.

Still not satisfied? How about a cd which features the incredibly-talented musician Alejandro Escovedo? While I was unable to see him perform at The EARL a few months ago because the show sold out I hear that it was a fantastic show.

And if none of that satisfies your tastes I can't help you, try again next week.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - behind
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing The Plastic Constellations -- "Sancho Panza". (everytime I hear them I think 311?)
Website Of The Day - I admit to being a RealiTV junky. I think that I will be wasting many an upcoming hour scouring the Reality TV Digest over at Reality Blurred.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - biking, 35 miles (Candler Park Marta <-> Stone Mountain) on Saturday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Mayday! Mayday!

2006-05-01T08:15:00.000-04:00

Four months down, not much to show.

I've Taken The Fifth
As you can see from my Taco Mac Passport list I have reached beer number twenty-five; this marks the 1/5th mark on my path to 125. This beer was consumed after a morning of pseudo-successful picture taking in East Atlanta, Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward, and near Ga Tech. Of the shots taken on Friday that I consider half decent (most hit the virtual editor's floor), this is my favorite.

Take The Crap Out Of The Ballgame
This is where I am suppose to gloat about the Mets winning two out of three over the Braves this weekend. However, I have axes to grind.

I am a child of the Cold Wars. Back in my childhood we were shown video of parades held in the evil Soviet Union which highlighted their military power. We cursed the Soviets for doing this. On Friday evening at Turner Field I withnessed a Navy induction ceremony prior to the ballgame followed by a flyover by the Blue Angels during the National Anthem. In my opinion this sort of jingoism, admittedly on a smaller scale, is no different than the old Soviet military parades.

To add to my dismay over our jingoism, I was further angered at the display of commercialism around the third or fourth inning. After the completion of one of these half innings the Budweiser Clydesdales were paraded out onto the field where they proceeded to encircle the field. To me it was a two-plus minute Budweiser commercial! As the horse-drawn carriage passed sections fans were standing and applauding as if these were great American heroes.

Please do me a favor and just play the fucking ballgame...

A Farewell-Ju Well?
While scouring The EARL's website over the weekend I saw a listing for a July 1st show featuring A Fir-Ju Well. This show is listed with the tag "(final performance)". Bummer! If you've been reading this space over the last year you'll know that A Fir-Ju Well is probably my favorite "local" band currently.

I've sent an email to their management in hopes of finding out the real story, but they have not gotten back to me yet.

Never Has One Man Done So Much With So Little
Sunday's ominous weather changed my plans from going to the Inman Park Festival to going to the High Museum.

Currently at the High there are two exhibits, one is a quilt exhibit that I had no interest in seeing, the other is the Chuck Close exhibit. For those unfamiliar with Close he is an American photorealic artist. His exhibit consisted of media which spanned his nearly forty-year career. The thing that that struck me the most was that his entire collection consisted of self portraits. Admittedly many of these portraits were done using different techniques and all display enormous talent, but they were all self portraits!

My outing at the High was nearly cut short when the "budding photographer" in me climbed a flight of stairs to get a picture (not of the art, because I know that is not allowed within the High) with my little pocket point-and-shoot. Unfortunately I was discovered and stopped by museum security before I could get the shot.

A note to the people in charge of the High Museum... If you send me a $2 coupon for "member" parking and then charge $10 for "event parking" in your parking garage, I will park for $6 over at Colony Square every day of the week. Of course I looked for free street parking first but couldn't find any.

Speaking Of Places You Can't Take Pictures
In an odd coincidence this weekend I picked up a copy of the Atlanta INtown newspaper. One of their monthly features is called "In Case You Were Wondering". This month's ICYWW features the old Eiseman Building facade which is located inside the Five Points Marta station. This is the facade that I had intended to shoot prior to being informed that it was illegal to take pictures inside a Marta station without permission. If you happen to see this article in the paper [btw- I'd link to the paper's article, but they didn't put it online] you'll notice a long escalator in their picture; that is the same escalator that I mentioned last week in my blog.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - none, listening to the TWiT podcast.
Website Of The Day - The Computer History Museum is a different type of museum, the type that makes this geek happy.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - biking, 38 miles (EAV <-> Stone Mountain) on Saturday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Take Off Eh!

2006-04-28T07:42:00.000-04:00

Today's weather forecast for Atlanta is the type the Chamber of Commerce (assuming they exist) would like to say happens every day. Today the weather is supposed to be sunny, reaching a high of 77 Fahrenheit. These are the days I hate being in an office.... so I've taken the day off from work.

If there is one positive thing to be said for being unattached it's that I am in complete control of my schedule, no one with whom to coordinate, no one with whom to gain approval. All I do is look in the mirror and ask myself if I want to take a paid day off and if I answer "yes" I do.

But I'm Not Completely Free Of Co-Workers
Tonight I'll take part in the company's annual field trip to a Braves game. It just so happens that the Mets are coming to town tonight and scheduled to pitch are John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez so it could be a great game.

Look for me, I'll be the one in the Mets hat drinking a beer and eating a hot dog (Friday is a Meat Day). Let's Go Mets! Let's Go Meats!

You Lika The Beck, No?
If you are a fan of the musical stylings of Beck and live in the Atlanta area it may be of interest to you to know that tickets for his June 15th show at The Tabernacle go on sale tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 10am. Buy tickets old school -- camp out over night at at Tickemaster outlet and be first in line when the register opens; or go ahead and buy tickets new school and keep hitting refresh on The Man's website around 10am.

btw- I wish someone would have tipped me off to the presale that started yesterday. Unfortunately, those tickets appear to be sold out.

And I'll Make You Holla For A Dolla
"Oh crap, he's following through and posting a picture every day now..."

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - free
Current Music - The Film School cd I bought yesterday. btw- according to Film School's website they will be playing at The EARL on May 30th... presale tickets for this show are already on sale.
Website Of The Day - Want to know if Abe Vigoda is alive? Simply go to his website to check his status. Want to know about other celebrities? Then click on over to Dead or Alive? to find out.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Well, I Was In A Half Decent Mood

2006-04-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

And then Firefox on my new installation of WinXP just locked up solid causing me to lose all of my text. Argh!

Was I Running Or Swimming?
With anticipation of my running companions bailing last night because of the rain and poor forecast I waited at George's dressed in my non-running clothes, and then Sarah arrived. Sarah wouldn't even think about not running, even if there was a tornado outside (okay, I could be exaggerating here).

Sarah, John, and I suffered through nearly six miles of humidity running a modified version of our 17th Street bridge run. When I made it back to George's it felt more like I had gone swimming instead of running.

And Along The Way
The three of us witnessed an all-to-common auto/biker verbal confrontation about sharing the roads and associated laws. I was going to do some research on pedestrian / cycling laws, but when I try to go to "http://www.georgia.gov" I am greeted with a "host not found" error.

Has the state run out of money and can no longer host a site?

Anyone know a better site to find out this information?

Is It Just Me Or Has The Amazing Race Become Boring?
Don't get me wrong, last night I moved MoJo into the "I hate them" category but by and large I am starting to get a real blase (sp. because I am too lazy to look up the accented e html code) attitude toward this season's The Amazing Race. The remaining four teams could all get lost at sea and I am not sure that I would much care. Maybe it's just my current mood...

Proof That I Occasionally Make It OTP
There was this one time back in 2003 that I left my beloved land of ITP and took this picture.

As I take more photos this space will routinely show off my talents. Hey, it's my blog cut me some slack.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - cranky
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians -- "So You Think You're In Love" (if you've been reading you know that I am not, or at best I have unreciprocated love)
Website Of The Day - This one goes out to my friends Stacy and Phil with whom I will be watching Survivor tonight... [WARNING: turn down your sound] MooTube (my cow!).

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - ~6 miles of running in last night's soup

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I Need A Vacation

2006-04-26T08:20:00.000-04:00

I need a vacation, in part from my life and in part from my city.

Giving Props To Big Orange
The other day whilst shopping in the Home Depot on Ponce I noticed something different. While walking down an aisle I saw a woman writing something onto a board and handing to an employee. After a gesture or two she seemed satisified and walked away (I would have followed but that would be stalking now, wouldn't it) and I walked past the employee. On the employee's apron were affixed the letters DEAF, in those reflective stickers people put on their mailboxes. Oddly, if I had not already purchased reflective tape at the bike store earlier that day I would had been looking for those stickers so that I could cut them up and affix them to my new bike helmet. Not needing to ask him a question I walked past with a slight smile which was quickly returned with a nod.

I think the next time I'm in need of assistance in that Home Depot I'll go on a little journey to see if he is working.

Spring Cleaning, Part I
Last night instead of getting out and exercising I took a night to do nothing but take care of tasks around the house. One of the tasks accomplished was pulling some photos off a old hard drive so that they are not lost forever. Keeping with my current idea of posting some of my shots, here are some of the gems from 2003 that I recovered.

Sorry that I didn't have the time or skills to align these all pretty-like.

NPR: Your New Music Station!!!
When I was growing up National Public Radio (and PBS Televsion for that matter) was either "shit for old folks" or educational. Somewhere along the way NPR got hip (perhaps it is run by GRUPS now?). Now that NPR is putting out some podcasts (remember, I rarely listen to the radio), I am finding this out.

Yesterday I subscribed to the "All Songs Considered" podcast. Recent "All Songs Considered" podcasts have had music from Elf Power, Neko Case, Morrissey, Calexico, and Jack White's Raconteurs to name a few. Music for the hip, and not for those who fear breaking one...

This May Come As A Surprise
There is something cool happening in East Atlanta about which I had no clue. Furthermore, it has something to do with one of my favorite hobbies ~~drinking~~ biking.

The other day over at the Drive A Faster Car blog Tessa (who ironically doesn't even own a car) posted that she was unfortunately was a party to a car/bike incident. In her post, she mentioned SOPO Bikes, a bike co-op located right in my own backyard (not literally in my backyard because that would be silly, I thing I would notice people in my backyard). Perhaps if I stepped away from the bar(s) ocassionally and walked the Village I would know these things.

I ride. I live in East Atlanta. I am ready to step forward and contribute. Stay tuned.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - looking for love in all the wrong places or ready to give up, put the bike on the top of the car and drive somewhere far, far away.
Current Music - NPR's "All Songs Considered" podcast from 13-April-2006
Website Of The Day - Once I figure out where I am going I will start studying the Art and Science of Travelling Light at One Bag.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - none, arrrrgh to me!!!

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Pissing In The Wind

2006-04-25T08:03:00.000-04:00

There are days when I feel that phrase best describes my life. Days when a good deed goes for naught. Days when you notice that one of the lightbulbs outside your house you replaced just five days ago because the ones you put in three weeks ago were so bright they probably keep you neighbor awake, has already burned out.

Another From The Collection Of Paulie [eatl/ga]
What I was really looking for when taking pictures last weekend was something that had "In Case Of Emergency Break Glass" written on it. This is the closest thing that I could find...

I really like this shot and if I had aimed a smidgeon to the left I would love this shot.

Spirits To Raise My Mood
My Taco Mac Passport list is growing. If you look to the bottom of the right hand galley you'll see that last night I reached beer number twenty-two!

In other Taco Mac related news Meet The Hashers once again finished second. However, thanks to an accumulation of $80 in house cash from previous efforts my meal (a basket of fries) and two beers wound up costing me a mere $2.64. Who says that useless knowlege is worth nothing?

Music To Raise My Spirits
Tuesday, how far from Friday you reside but I still love you because you promise me new music. Today's offerings have quite a few that interest me as well.

Last week I mentioned picking up an advanced copy of The Rakes' "Capture/Release" cd. I enjoy it very much, and if you are a fan of stripped-down older-school rock/punk so will you.

A lot of the kids today are listening to The Streets. Frankly, I don't really get them; to me each song (of those I've heard on the radio) sounds like the previous one. Whether I like them or not The Streets have a new release called "The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living."

The Secret Machines have a new release today that I know nothing about.

Bruce Springsteen releases album number seven hundred and nineteen today and it's called "We Shall Overcome -- The Seeger Sessions." I'm not sure if this refers to Bob Seeger or Pete Seeger and it doesn't make much difference to me because I haven't been a big Boss fan since "The River."

For my money I'm going with a band (once?) associated with the Elephant 6 Recording Company (and as a side note if you dig info about Elephant 6 you should be reading Optical Atlas) -- Elf Power.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - useless
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Belle & Sebastian -- "Another Sunny Day" (Sirius is trying to make me happy whether I want it or not!)
Website Of The Day - Every day is a Punny Day at Bad Puns.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It's Gone, It's Atta Here

2006-04-24T08:50:00.000-04:00

And now I wish I had actually changed blogging software this weekend. I've been trying to get this post up for over two hours...

I Was Captured By Robots!!!
On Friday night I went to The EARL to see Captured! By Robots with my friends Stacy and Phil. Oddly (at least to me) this was their virgin voyage to The EARL.

I have to say that I had a really fun time. Captured! By Robots is an act which must be seen to be believed. Their (his) music, which consisted mostly of 80s cover songs, left a little to be desired, but the visual was well worth it. I'd have pictures to share if I fought my way closer to the stage.

By night's end I was, um trashed. I realized this the next day when I woke up on the bed in my guest bedroom. I have never slept in my guest bedroom before. Additionally the lights in my master bedroom and bathroom were on so I must have walked through them in order to get to the guest bedroom. Good Times. Good Times.

However I Was Not A Fir-Ju Welled Or Luceroed
I was planning to go to Lenny's on Saturday night to see A Fir-Ju Well, and back to The Earl to see Lucero in Sunday night. However on both ocassions I was too pooped to go out. Rats!

Cargone Magazine?
The Magazine Death Pool blog is reporting that Cargo magazine has called it quits.

You may not be able to tell from my appearance, but I was a dedicated reader of Cargo. For the unititiated Cargo was one of those Maxim-like magazines which highlighted what the upcoming trends in fashion and electronics are.

Sometimes Taking Pictures Can Be Educational
I learned something this weekend. According to the Marta employee who flagged me down it is illegal to take pictures inside a Marta station. It's something to do with 9/11, terrorism, the fact that we should no longer have civil liberties, and Big Brother.

Although this really doesn't bother me too much because there is not a whole shitload to snap inside Marta stations I was disappointed that I could not take a picture of the architectual details inside the Five Points station. Luckily I got an unexpected shot on the escalator I was taking to get to the place I wanted to shoot. Here it is; because I didn't update my blogging software this weekend you should click it for a better view.

Pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Patio A Go-Go
Leaving the Inman Park Marta Station on Saturday I noticed that The Patio has once again gone out of business. This is too bad because I really liked their pizza and always thought that it was a great place to take a date (back in the Olden Days when I had those).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - merely bothered
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Of Montreal -- "Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Game"
Website Of The Day - Are you into trendwatching? Trendwatching is an entire website dedicated to identifying emerging consumer trends.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - biking, 50 miles on Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Flashing Friday

2006-04-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, today's music won't be "Jumpin' Jack Flash", today's website will not be Flash.com and I promise that there will be no nude pictures of me nor flashing text.

Flash Back
I first considered moving to Atlanta some time in 1993/1994. It was Atlanta, GA or Austin, TX where ever I found a job first. Back in those days we computer geeks communicated used the technologies of the times -- email and USENET (anybody remember USENET?).

It was through a USENET group that I inquired about Atlanta bars, music venues and bands. It was through USENET that I was informed about the LaBrea Stompers. (somewhere on a 3 1/2" floppy I probably have a copy of that posting). When I moved to Atlanta in January of 1995 I kept an eye on the Creative Loafing looking for LaBrea Stompers show. Sadly, I came to the conclusion that the LaBrea Stompers had already ceased to exist by that time.

With time to kill yesterday I visited a local Goodwill store and much to my surprise I found this

The disc is in very bad shape (but I successfully ripped it to mp3s last night) and cost my a whopping $2.75.

So after twelve years of hearing a name of a band recommended to me I am now able to listen to them. My conclusion? Not bad, definitely influenced by David Barbe (who produced and engineered the disc), which is a good thing in my book; it was well worth the $2.75 gamble.

Flash Forward
Tonight I'll be back at one of my favorite haunts, The EARL to see Captured! By Robots. I have no idea exactly what I am in for tonight. I, or should I say PodBop, downloaded a couple of songs from Captured! By Robots the other night but I've not found the time to listen to them. Sometimes I think it's better off to be completely surprised.

Flash In The Pan
Also purchased from Goodwill yesterday was a book called "Vegetarian Pasta." And you thought I was bullshitting about that vegetarian thing especially because I ate meat yesterday, didn't you?

Is it just me or does anyone else believe that producing a cookbook that contains no (color) pictures is a really dumb idea? Of course you now know that "Vegetarian Pasta" has loads of pictures that make each dish look delicious (but not del.icio.us). Starting this Sunday I am going to try something that I have never done before, making each entree in the book in the order that it appears in the book. Yes, I am crazy enough to try and do it...

Flash Envy
Since jumping into the Nikon D50 digital SLR world back in January I have been accessorizing (pretty hard for a straight man to do I might add). I've got a telephoto lens on order, and have been trying to decide if my next purchase will be one of these

The cost is ridiculous, but can be justified that it is an awesome shoe-mounted flash that can be used off-camera through the use of a cable, and can participate function as a master or slave flash for those advanced photos that I will probably never take.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - even more frustrated
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Sebadoh -- "Ocean"
Website Of The Day - Ooops, I left this out in the first revision. Go play with some pretty colors with the Colr Pickr.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Cross Town Traffic

2006-04-20T08:41:00.000-04:00

A (Not So) Funny Thing Happened On My Way To George's
Traffic Near Perimeter Mall. Fucking. Sucked!!!! The thought of spending sixty to ninety minutes getting aggravated behind the wheel of my car seemed obsurd. The solution? Turn the car around and go to Target and Taco Mac to wait out the traffic. Oh sure I could have changed into my running clothes and gone for a run up near work (which is what I should have done) but making three more advances toward my passport seemed like more fun.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree
Seems to be a constant theme recently. I'm just saying. I hope that it changes real soon. I'm just saying.

And You Thought I Was Joking, Part I
"Why don't you register 'eatlga.com'?" It was a drunken suggestion to me at the last APWBWGTTD when Brian (aka Bobafred) gave me a name tag with "EATL" written on it.

Yesterday I decided to test the GoDaddy waters by registering www.eatlga.com for the next three years. GoDaddy's registration fee is cheap and a little googling will reap a slew of discount codes.

Secretly I am also testing GoDaddy's service for future endeavors.

And You Thought I Was Joking, Part II
With any luck I'll be starting to get my shit together for a Word Press conversion this weekend. All the cool kids are doing it and I'm nothing if not envious of the cool kids.

Speaking Of The Cool Kids
The newest cool kid on the block (holy shit, she converted to Word Press yesterday and her site looks fucking awesome!) posted a link to what could be a fantastic new service called LaLa. LaLa is a cd trading service on which you post the cds you are willing to part with and list the ones you are seeking. Users will mail cds to one another for a $1 fee (and believe it or not $0.20 of that dollar goes to the artist). Sounds pretty cool to me.

Unfortunately the site is currently in private beta, but if I can figure out how to do an invite I'll post here.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - frustrated
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Gomez -- "How We Operate"
Website Of The Day - Yet another music-related site, Music Strands. Seriously, I never get tired about finding new music / music recommendation services.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, thwarted by traffic and lack of gumption

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Beer Is A Vegetable

2006-04-19T08:45:00.000-04:00

It must be, because I know vegetarians who drink it...

The Return Of The 5/7ths Vegetarian
As I struggled to run last night it became abundantly clear that my current weight-loss plans were inadequate. From now until I weigh under 195 pounds I am reimplementing my 5/7ths vegetarian status.

What is a 5/7ths vegetarian you ask? Well in my world a 5/7ths vegetarian is a person who eats only vegetarian food five of the seven days of the week (for me it will most likely be Sunday through Thursday) and can eat meat on the other two days if they wish.

Hogwash you say? Perhaps for you, but not for me. Newer readers of this space might not have read my previous posts which mentioned that at one time I was a man of 245 pounds (a 42" waist for those of you playing at home) and it was this eating regiment (it's not a diet mind you) combined with a work out routine allowed me to drop over sixty pounds. For a decade I was able to manage my weight successfully, but an injury a few years ago combined with a lowered self-esteem brought about the eating and slacking patterns that have gotten me where I am today.

Abundantly Musical
Yesterday I was like a kid in a candy store (candy is vegetarian, right?) while I perused the used cd selections at Decatur CD. One of the benefits of going to a used cd store is that sometimes you see promo / advance cds in the bin and yesterday was no exception.

For a mere $6 each I bought promo cds from The Rakes ("All Too Human") and Grandaddy ("Just Like The Fambly Cat"). Also in the used bin I found The Flaming Lips' "At War With The Mystics" and We Are Scientists' "With Love And Squalor." Yippee!!!

As an further unpaid endorsement for Decatur CD they are having a used cd sale from Thursday (4/20) to Sunday (4/23) during which all used cds $8 and up will be 25% off. Aw fuck, why wait, go today!

It's a busy day for me today, so that is all I can give ya...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - meh
Current Music - listening to Leo Laporte's "KFI the Tech Guy" podcast
Website Of The Day - I'll be trolling around the VegWeb for a while to reacquaint myself with vegetarian recipes.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running and walking, 6 miles

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I'm On The Edge And Ready To Leap

2006-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Back To The Mac For Trivia And Passport Progression
Last night I made it past my thirteenth beer toward obtaining my Taco Mac Passport. By consuming beer number thirteen I was rewarded with a t-shirt.

Now that my Monday night photography class has ended I was free to return to Meet The Hashers for Team Trivia at Taco Mac. My speciality has always been sports so I was a little more than disappointed when I missed two of the three sports questions asked last evening (Janet Evans? How could I forget Janet Evans?). My lack of knowledge dragged us down to a second-place finish which was good for $30 in bar cash. Meh!

Sticking To 'The Man'
Last night before trivia I got a wee little bit of sweet revenge upon The Man. The other night I noticed that Gomez is scheduled to play the Variety Playhouse on May 4th. I was puzzled why I hadn't noticed this when I was looking through the ticket offerings on their website on Friday. It turns out that pre-sale for Variety's website is closed, at least according to the person I spoke with at the phone number shown on their website. I thought that I would succumb to buying a ticket from The Man, where the cost of the show would be $22.50 (ticket), $6.50ish (convenience charge), $3.50ish (processing fee) for a total of about $33.50. Feeling reamed I decided that it might be worth my while to visit Variety's box office before lining the fat pockets of The Man. I am so glad that I did! By visiting the box office (which is not far from my normal travel path) I saved $9.00; my cost was $22.50 (ticket), $1.00 (processing fee because I paid using a credit card).

Score one for Paulie!

Okay Word Pressers...
I am looking to take off the training wheels and make the leap from Blogger to something else, most likely Word Press. Two questions

What will I gain by making the leap?
Who is hosting your site and why did you choose them?

The more replies I get, the faster I will get off my arse to take action.

CD Pick Of The Week
It's Tuesday, that must mean it's time for me to pick a new release as my CD Pick of the Week.

Let's see... Okay there it is.... This week's pick goes to the Drive By Truckers and their release of "A Blessing and a Curse."

As a person who grew up despising "Southern Rock" thanks Lynyrd Skynyrd (or was it .38 Special?) it took me a long time to come around to enjoying the genre. Every once in awhile I'd dip my toes back into the alt-country / southern rock waters; there was Lone Justice in the 80's, and then Jason and the Scorchers in the 80's and 90's. For the naughts I have taken to Drive By Truckers. If you are not a fan of the Truckers I suggest that you see them live before you come to your final conclusion.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - unsure
Current Music - listening to Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" podcast
Website Of The Day - Who knew that a browser would become so popular that people would make movies about it? Check our user-submitted videos which espouse the virtues of Firefox at Firefox Flicks.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I Made It!!!

2006-04-17T08:51:00.000-04:00

I made it through Lent. And here I thought that it would be hard to go forty days without having sex with other partners, but I made it. Over the last six weeks everytime somebody told me "Go fuck yourself", I'd think "Okay, at least I didn't give that up for Lent".

Overspeak
Today's dictionary.com "Word of the Day" is "choler." According to the definition it means "anger." WTF? This is a situation where I think we could trim the English language a bit. We already have a word that means "anger", and that word is "anger." "Choler" is now redunant and therefore should be stricken from the language. You'd rather keep "choler?" Okay, then lets get rid of "anger."

Seating For One
On Saturday night I damned the torpedoes and went to see the play "Permanent Collection" at the Horizon Theatre solo.

If you enjoy drama, especially those with racial tensions, then I highly recommend the play (which closes April 30th I believe). It's a story of a small privately-owned art gallery which hires an African American director upon the death of the art collection's owner. The tension builds when the new director attempts to change part of the permanent collection against the directive of the will, and wishes of a long-term employee of the gallery. I won't spoil the whole play here, instead I will instruct you to go and support local theater, even if you have to do it all by your lonesome.

Gone And Soon To Be Forgotten
An Atlanta institution closed over the weekend. The Varsity? Nope. Mary Mac's Tea Room? Nope. It was the The Home Store Futon Gallery in Little 5 Points. Oh sure, that might not mean much to you but it has been a constant companion (albeit in two locations) in Little 5 Points during my eleven year residency in Atlanta. When The Point closed, the futon place was there. When Bridgetown Grill closed, the futon place was there. I never thought that Atlanta would turn their collective nose up to futons, but I guess that I was wrong.

How I'd Like To Be Remembered, Part 1
I've received my commissioned caricature in email the other day. Here it is. What do you think?

Yeah, I know that it's no longer accurate since it is of bearded Paulie, but I think that it's kinda cool.

Turning Water Into Wine? No, Turning Running Into Walking
There are days that I am relieved when push myself to go running even when I don't feel like doing it. Then there are days like yesterday. With the warmer weather I planned to do a lot of exercise. On Saturday I allowed myself avoid running or biking and substitute yardwork in its place. On Sunday I convinced myself that a morning run would do me good. With water bottle in hand I headed out for what was to be a five to seven mile jaunt. After five minutes I knew that this effort would be less than fruitful, but I pushed on. After twelve minutes my legs were bitching, my chest was pounding, and my mind shut it all off. While I did manage to walk a total of four miles, had I known that my attempt at running was going to be so shitty I would have traded the water bottle in for my camera and done a photo stroll instead.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - cholery, yes I made it up.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Of Montreal -- "Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Game"
Website Of The Day - Found Magazine is a cool site which posts images and stories about the things that they find.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - walking, 4 miles on Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Based On A True Story

2006-04-14T08:15:00.000-04:00

Yup, I'm A Grup
My friend Stacey sent me a link to an article from New Yorker magazine which talks about Grups (a contraction of "Grown Ups"). Tell me if this sounds like anyone you (may or may not) know

It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old. It’s not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent. It’s about the hedge-fund guy in Park Slope with the chunky square glasses, brown rock T-shirt, slight paunch, expensive jeans, Puma sneakers, and shoulder-slung messenger bag, with two kids squirming over his lap like itchy chimps at the Tea Lounge on Sunday morning.

I think I see someone like this, minus the "expensive" part of the jeans and children, every day I look in the mirror.

And Me Without My Camera
After last night's Thrashers game I headed out to meet up with the Atlanta Bloggers. It was nearly 10pm, but there was still a core of "cool kids", and a couple of non-blogging types, hanging out and drinking. Our corner of 97 Estoria was like a paparazzi convention and I forgot to bring either of the two cameras I own. If you want to see pictures of at least a part of last night's festivities, click thy mouse on this (link ~~provided by~~ stolen from Dave of the Daily Dose of Dave blog)

Would You Give Up Your Cell Phone Number For $300?
This is my newest dilemma. With a handful of months left on my current Sprint contract I am currently thinking about jumping ship to Cingular. If I do I might also make the Blackberry plunge by getting this beauty, the 8700c.

If I switch through a Cingular store the phone will cost me $300+tax (with a two-year contract). However, if I switch through Amazon I can get the same phone for free (with a comparable contract), but I believe that I have to give up my current cell number.

I hate changing cell numbers. It's not like I have a bevy of contacts (oh the self-deprication, when will it stop?!) but it is still a royal pain in the ass to get the message out when my number changes.

From The Fingers Of Bob Mould
A few weeks ago I blogged about seeing Bob Mould twice. Yesterday I surfed over to Bob's Blog to read it. While there I saw (a subsequently stole) this section of his April 3rd entry about his recent tour.

Wednesday and Thursday, Atlanta. Eddie's Attic is a great music room, lots of history, an attentive crew, and two packed shows. Thursday night, my voice gave out, a combination of strain and allergies. I managed to get through the show, but it was a tough one. I was able to visit some long time friends while in Atlanta. I almost moved to Atlanta three times, so I'm very familiar with the town. Visited two usual stops: Outwrite Books and Ansley Mall. To get to the gym at the (predominantly gay) mall, you walk by Starbucks. Think that combination draws a crowd?

I find it amusing to other people's impressions of our city or neighborhoods.

Making A Case For Live Music
On Good Friday it's back to the Variety Playhouse to see Neko Case. I've yet to purchase her new cd so I probably won't know most of the songs she performs tonight, but that's okay since she is rather easy on the eyes, her voice is spectacular, and it's a night out with friends. What more could a Grup ask for? Well, one thing springs to mind immediately, but I gave that up for Lent.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - been caught stealin'
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The New Pornographers -- "Sing Me Spanish Techno"
Website Of The Day - Let's try tying the knot in a different way today. Ian's Shoelace Site has an astonishing amount (sixteen to be exact) of ways to tie your shoelaces.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Cat Gut Your Tongue?

2006-04-13T08:14:00.000-04:00

It's been very quiet in the comment section recently. Is everything okay? :)

Want To See My 7"?
My what a dirty mind you have!

After completing my day at the Career Fair I swung by Criminal Records to pick up the new Built To Spill cd. On Tuesday Criminal sent out their weekly email and announced that they were giving away limited number of Built To Spill 7" records with the purchase of the new cd. According to the guy behind the counter I received the last of the records. Whew! Timing is everything. Now if I can only find a turntable on which to play it.

I'm Smiling But Won't Reveal Why
When I returned home from George's last evening it was late and I was in no condition to stay up and watch The Amazing Race. Thanks to the Internet I accidentally saw who got ousted on last night's episode. I won't completely spoil the surprise but I will say that I am smiling from ear-to-ear and can't wait to see how it all went down.

'Tis To Be My Last Thrashing Of The Season
Have you ever had one of those nights where you think "Man, there is nothing to do!"? Have you ever had one of those nights where you think "Holy shit there are just too many things from which to choose!"? Tonight is one of the latter for me.

Tonight's options included seeing if the gang wanted to get together to watch Survivor, use a free (non-Turner voucher *ahem*) ticket to the Thrashers game, going to Smith's Olde Bar to see National Grain, or hanging with the ATLbloggers for their monthly drinkfest.

I have chosen the Thrashers option, and with any luck I'll be up for swinging by 97 Estoria to see if any of the drunken bloggers are still there after the game.

Have You Tried Google Search?
I think this search technology from Google must still be in beta because the results I have been getting back from it have been rather lame lately.

I mentioned yesterday that when I searched for "P'Cheen" the other day Google failed to return their website http://www.pcheen.com. I rationalized this because I thought that perhaps I confused Google by adding the apostrophe.

This morning I searched for "97 Estoria Atlanta". Google Maps found it, but provided no link to their website. Further, none of the links returned on the first page of results contained the link to http://www.97estoria.com. I find this strange that the obvious answer was not the very first link, or at least one of the first ten.

Perhaps it's time for Google to return to "dancing with the date that brung ya" before we internet users find a new search engine to use. It will never happen you say? Anyone out there remember Gopher, AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Lycos to name a few?

And Finally, A Real Happy Birth Day Shoutout
Because I got the lowdown after my blog got published on the Information SuperHighway (like how I make this nonsense sound all official like?) I was unable to include this yesterday.

Happy True Birthday (belated) to Charles, the newest non-commenter to the InsideThePerimeter posse. Born in the late hours of Tuesday night my friends Mike and Sandy have successfully produced their first child. I hear mother and son are fine, but father can't wait for Lent to end so that he can once again drink beer. Rock on you two, I am really happy for you.

Next on the clock.... Stacey and Andy.

As for me it appears that my lot in life is to be "Uncle" Paulie. Just don't ask me to change diapers because those things are nasty!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - whooped
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Sufjan Stevens -- "The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts"
Website Of The Day - For those of us who think that we'll never find anyone to marry predicting the length of a marriage based solely on an engagement photo seems like fun. If you are as twisted as me you can play along at Wedding Betting.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, 4.5 miles

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Galleria Schmalleria

2006-04-12T00:10:00.000-04:00

Your roving blogger is once again on the move. Today I am collecting resumes at the Georgia Tech Alumni Career Fair at the Cobb Galleria (which sounds scary but is actually ITP).

Mea Culpa
Yesterday it was pointed out to me that P'cheen has a website. I was surprised to hear this since Google did return this site when I searched for "P'Cheen" and none of the websites that had reviews of P'Cheen referenced their website.

Eighteen Signs That Your City Ain't That Cool
Yesterday MTV announced that Real World 18 (yikes!) will take place in Denver. Atlanta has yet to host a Real World series because apparently we don't have the characteristics (diversity, activities, energy, nightlife) necessary to be a "Real World" city.

FWIW, here are the cities which have hosted "Real World"

Season 17: Key West	Season 8: Hawaii
Season 16: Austin	Season 7: Seattle
Season 15: Philadelphia	Season 6: Boston
Season 14: San Diego	Season 5: Miami
Season 13: Paris	Season 4: London
Season 12: Las Vegas	Season 3: San Francisco
Season 11: Chicago	Season 2: Los Angeles
Season 10: Back to NY	Season 1: New York
Season 9: New Orleans

What's after Denver? Charlotte, North Carolina?

Hoping To Be In The Running
My "gym" bag is packed with running clothes with all intent on doing a Wednesday run at George's Bar tonight. The weather is suppose to be perfect, but after being on my feet all day I am not sure how into running I will be.

A Quick Pic To Fill The Space
This is a slightly distorted view of color cube model I own; click on it for a more accurate view.

I particularly like this photo is because as you can see it looks like it is standing on point but it's not really...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - decent
Current Music - none
Website Of The Day - Trying to figure out more ways to piss away the day? If you have a Mac you can always try using the Democracy Internet TV Player to watch some videos.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - um, I failed

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

My Name Is Paulie And I Have A Problem

2006-04-11T08:40:00.000-04:00

Oh to have but one would certainly be nice...

If You Don't Hear From Me, Fear Not
Yesterday after lunch I walked over to the mall and stopped into EB Games to ask about the upcoming release of Kingdom Hearts 2.

Much to my surprise the game was released two weeks ago and I didn't know! You'll have to understand a few things about me to appreciate the enormity of this reaction. Grab a cup of coffee (preferrably served to you by Ellen at Joe's in East Atlanta like mine has been today) and relax.

A wee little bit more than two years ago my last relationship ended with the words "I'm sorry I can't marry you, I'm moving out." For a few months I kept my mind occupied by doing chores around the house (hmmm, must remember to finish some of those), drinking, and hashing. It was then I rediscovered my love of video games (probably the reason for my stunted social skills that has hampered my ability to meet girls/women over the past twenty-five years) when I purchased a Playstation 2.

I played the original Kingdom Hearts day and night, night and day, at a volume intended for those half my age (I was 38 then). "Engulfed" is the best way to describe my addiction. After investing hours of my life playing Kingdom Hearts I finished the game. An odd sense of pride and accomplishment emerged from a soul that was essentially empty. And then I waited for the release of Kingdom Hearts 2. At every gaming convention there were teasers put out by Square Enix, the game's maker, and the assurance that the game would be coming out "soon."

For some reason I had it in my head that April 15th was the day Kingdom Hearts 2 was to be release in the United States. The date obviously stuck in my head because of income taxes and the thought that the pain of taxes would be eased by Kingdom Hearts 2. And then yesterday I found out that it's been out for two weeks.

So starting tonight I will be guiding ~~Sora~~ Roxas and a cast of Disney characters through a maze of virtual worlds. I realize most of you are shaking your heads in disbelief, but it's true. I promise not to provide game updates and not to complain too loudly when the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 continues to be delayed...

Double Dose Of Donald?
After getting home from my last Digital 101 photography class (I passed!) I made the tough decision to wait one more day before starting Kingdom Hearts 2. Afterall, there was an episode of The Apprentice to watch. I'm not sure what's happening next Monday, but NBC decided to make me really happy by doubling up on The Don last night because there will be no showing of The Apprentice next week. Through the magic of the DVR I was able to catch both episodes in about an hour and forty-five minutes. Sweet. I won't play spoiler today in case you weren't able to watch. I will say that it is starting to get intersting watching these people jockey for position.

More Pictures?
I'm not ready to inflict a daily photo on you yet, but from time to time I am going to dump a photo I've taken into this space. This will eventually get me to redesign this site (read "pay somebody to help me migrate to a new blogging service and design") because the landscape photos taken with my Nikon and uploaded to Flickr don't play nicely with this template.

This is a statue which stands outside Atlanta's Woodruff Arts Center. There is actually a better picture of this (imho) if you go to my Flickr account (my account is InsideThePerimeter in case you have to ask) and look for photos tagged with "woodruffarts".

CD Pick Of The Week
Although Metacritic lists twelve CDs dropping today including releases from Calexico, Eagles of Death Metal, and Pretty Girls Make Graves, it's the release of "You In Reverse" from Built To Spill that gets my nod.

Built To Spill has been around for quite some time and if the name sounds even more familiar than you think it should it's probably because I mentioned their concert cancellation recently. Luckily for me the concert has been rescheduled for later in the year and I am hopeful that Camper van Beethoven will once again be enlisted as the opening act.

As for the album, I find it to be quite entertaining. I was able to listen to it in its entirety (and so can you) thanks to the folks over at AOL Music; follow this link (unfortunately it requires the use of Internet Explorer) to give it a free listen.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - vacant
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Badly Drawn Boy -- "Disillusion"
Website Of The Day - Pixsy is YAW2.0S ("yet another Web 2.0 site") whose goal is to allow you to search for pictures and videos on the InterWeb based on keywords/tags. I've not used the site extensively and have had limited success using it. As always, your mileage may vary.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - ...and on Monday Paulie rested

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Stuck On The Connector: P'cheen Keen

2006-04-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

Let me get this off my chest first, if you are going to open a business in the 2000s you should have a fucking website!!! I don't know if webdesigners are that slow or if it's cool not to have a site these days, but lately I have been thwarted often when trying to get a weblink for new businesses in Atlanta. In this piece you will see nfws which means that I have searched for a website, but have found no fucking web site.

P'cheen Keen
On Saturday evening my friends Stacey (preggers), Andy (her husband the culprit) and I went to see Wanda Sykes at the Tabernacle (nfws). After the show we were feeling a bit peckish and decided to grab a bite to eat and a beverage.

P'cheen is a relatively new bar / restaurant in the Old Fourth Ward (Highland Av) which was once known for housing Roman Lily Cafe and the original location of Jake's Ice Cream. In recent days this section is mostly recognized as the home of Zuma Sushi (nfws).

P'cheen (Gaelic for "moonshine") is a small space which uses every inch effectively. There are ample tables for diners, a sit-down bar, and a small window space which (much to my surprise) was big enough for two turntables and a ~~microphone~~ DJ.

I originally planned to order the fish and chips (which Stacey ordered), but was lured away when I decided that I wanted an appetizer of pomme frites with three dipping sauces and a panini consisting of Merguez lamb sausage, bleu cheese, caramelized onions and jalapeno marinara with a side of onion rings as my entree. I highly recommend ordering either, or even both! The fries were delicious, slender and wilted when picked up; some might say that they needed to be fried again, I disagree. The dipping sauces provided were a mustard based sauce, a sweet and spicy sauce, and a slightly chutney-flavored sauce (this is the best that I can do to describe these sauces since it was late, dark inside, and my palette is not that sofisticated). The panini was fantastic, even with the strong flavors of the bleu cheese, onions, and marinara I could taste the delicious sausage.

As I mentioned, Stacey ordered the fish and chips with sides of British chips and mushy peas. I managed to get a taste of the peas which I found to be as tasty as peas can be. Stacey said that the fish was good, but that the chips were a bit too large to be cooked properly.

If I remember correctly, Andy ordered the shepard's pie. It appeared tasty, but I am rarely a fan of shepard's pie so I don't see myself ordering it any time soon.

My only disappointment of the evening was that my first choice of beer, Asheville North Carolina's Highland Brewery's Gaelic Ale was out of stock. This is not an unusual occurrance for me however. Instead, I drank a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Overall I had a wonderful time at P'cheen and can see myself inventing an excuse to go back soon.

The Ugly Truth

2006-04-10T07:56:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how my iPod knew that I was singing Matthew Sweet's "The Ugly Truth" and the played it as the first song when I set it to play in shuffle mode, but it did. Given that I have 5752 songs loaded onto my iPod there was a 0.017% chance of this happening.

iPod Update
A quick read of Apple's help has allowed me to authorize my computer to upload purchased music to my iPod (who knew that it was as easy as playing the song?)

So, as you can see from this photo (click it for a better view)

I've "paid off" my bet.

Supporting The Arts: Part I
I am in for two for three. Huh? On Friday I purchased two three-play subscriptions for the Hertz Theater (at the Woodruff Arts Center). The purchase of two tickets takes me back to my Optomistic Days, back to the days when I would assume that I would have a date for these sort of events. So for those of you planning to put me on your 2007 Dead Pool, you may want to hold off.... at least for now.

[note: This section was originally written on Friday. As of today my outlook is not quite as rosy.]

Supporting The Arts: Part II
Today I will be purchasing a ticket for Saturday night's performance of the play "Permanent Collection" at the Horizon Theatre. Anyone interested in joining me should send me an email on the Paulie Hotline (see that gmail address over under "Holla At Me") so we can hook up for a pre-show beverage.

[update @11:25am - ticket has been purchased]

Looks Like You Can Call Me Shaggy
I've just found out that the person who cuts my hair is in Moscow, and I have no clue how long she will be there. Currently I am about a week past due for getting a haircut. What to do? Go to a new place? Helmet Hairworx, a highly recommended place, just opened a second location, this one within walking distance from ITP Central. Or should I show loyalty and wait for Jessica to return? This would be my normal decision, but I've *just* started going there so no real bonding has occurred. What to do?

Camera Obscura
This weekend has taught me that becoming a professional photographer is not my lot in life. Even with my "fancy" Nikon D50 my images leave much to be desired. I've come to the conclusion that it is that indian and not the arrow, but I refuse to give up. There were a few shots that made me smile, this would be one

And Finally, For Those Reading Before 10am
Tickets for the Arctic Monkeys show to take place on June 10th go on sale today at 10am. Unfortunately they are playing at The Coca-Cola Roxy, so I think the only way to secure tickets is through The Man.

[update @10:03am - In addition to the $22 ticket, The Man wants over $10 in fees. Fuck Them!]

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Arctic Monkeys -- "A Certain Romance"
Website Of The Day - There haven't been too many constants in my adult life, my love of beer would be one -- so Here's To Beer.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, 5 miles on Friday; running, 7.5 miles on Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

A Half-Minded Half-Blog For A Half-Workday

2006-04-07T08:10:00.000-04:00

Today you won't even get 80% (and this will be the last time I beat the 80% dead horse). This afternoon some good friends of mine will be getting married and I am fortunate enough to take a half-day off from work to attend their wedding. Don't expect to see pictures of me diving to catch the garter, however. The last time I caught one my date also caught the bouquet and never went out with me again.

Hooters Air Is Deflating
With great sadness I must admit that I will probably never fly Hooters Air. I heard the news that they are starting to cancel flights to selected cities; Scranton and Orlando have already been scratched, and Allentown, Ft. Lauderdale, Myrtle Beach, Newark, St. Petersburg join them in ten days.

And it seemed like such a well-planned business.

Here's A Great Way To Lose Customers
Yesterday I stopped by a Wolf Camera store to pick up a few items. I waited patiently for one of the two clerks to assist me, one was on the phone while the other was helping a customer out with a camera purchase. However, when the second guy left the camera peruser to answer a ringing phone, without even acknowledging my existence, I had enough. I quickly put the shit in my hand back onto the shelves and walked out.

This attitude is a symptom of a larger problem (IMHO). In retail I believe you should assist those who take the time to come to your store before those who call. In a similar vein in an office environment I think it is rude to answer a phone when someone is your office/cubicle speaking with you.

Don't even get me started on those people who answer their cell phone and leave a meeting...

Sometimes I Think Flickr Should Be Called Shitr
I visit Flickr a lot. For me it has almost become more of a social network than a photo storage site.

I am no Ansel Adams, this I will freely admit. When I post photos to Flickr, especially those I make public, I try to make sure that they meet a minimum amount of standards. I also admit that a few of my photos on Flickr are complete crap but they were put there soley for the purpose of having a place to store photos for this blog.

All I ask is that if you are going to make crappy photos public, at least name them and give a little story behind the shot.

Tour de Fox
To kick my Saturday off right I am going to go on The Atlanta Preservation Center's Fox Theatre tour which will be given by my friend Glenn. I've taken this tour before and think it's pretty neat. This time I'll have camera in tow (assuming that I am allowed to take pictures inside). You can rest assured that only the finest of the shots will make it to my Flickr account.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - dressed to the eights
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Clap Your Hands Say Yeah -- "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood"
Website Of The Day - Maybe I should jump the Flickr ship and try something new and different like BubbleShare.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Relatively Speaking

2006-04-06T08:40:00.000-04:00

My Theory Of Relativity
I believe that Einstein had relativity only partially figured out. The reason I think this is because I've never heard temperature included into his theory.

When I woke up yesterday my house felt chilly. Upon looking at the thermostat I noticed that it read 67 degrees. Yesterday 67 felt chilly, while two weeks ago 67 would have been nice and toasty. In a few weeks my house will probably not see 67 again until Fall, and it will be a welcome temperature again.

One temperature. Three different times of year. Three different reactions to this one temperature. Paulie's Theory of Relativity. Take that, Einstein!

Oh, So That's What It Means
Yesterday's "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com was "cum" (I shit you not)

cum: with; along with; combined with.

Huh, you learn something new everyday. :)

Do Wut?
I've mocked Atlanta's "Every Day Is An Opening Day" slogan (see my post from the other day) as well as the previously announced slogan from Brand Atlanta, "Opportunity, Optimism, and Openness."

Yesterday I heard of another slogan which I believe outdoes ours. The state of Washington has sunk money into branding itself in an effort to increase tourism. The outcome of this effort is the slogan "SayWa". Yes, their new slogan is "SayWa".

The Hassles of DRM
In case you are not up to date on your acronym dictionary, DRM is an acronym for Digital Rights Management. Perhaps the two most prevalent DRMs in use today for music are Microsoft's WMA and Apple's "Fair Play". These DRMs do one thing that make life annoying, they restrict the use of the digital content that you purchase.

Today this little piece of the Internets was suppose to contain a picture of my iPod showing the inclusion of Kenny Roger's "Love Or Something Like It", the penalty for losing my Survivor bet on Week 1. This morning I logged onto Apple's iTunes Music Store and purchased the song which was then downloaded to my computer, the one that I used to sync my iTunes library. When I updated my iPod I was greeted with the following message.

For those of you who don't want to click through to read the message it says

"Some of the songs on the iTunes music library, including the song "Love or Something Like It", were not copy to the iPod "IPOD" because you are not authorized to play them on this computer"

Huh? First, a month or so ago I reset my iPod to its factory settings a few months ago (hence its generic name of "IPOD") using this computer. Second, why would Apple's iTunes Music Store let me purchase a song and download it to a computer on which it is not authorized to be played?

Thanks for nothing DRM.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - listening to Leo Laporte's "KFI the Tech Guy" podcast
Website Of The Day - Relatively speaking English is a bizarre language. The Spelling Society has posted some poems which highlight this bizarreness.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - walking, approximately 5 miles

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

All Your 80% Are Belong To Us

2006-04-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

A Is For Apple
Every once in a while I have issues with Firefox. The most common issue occurs when I begin to type a URL and Firefox suggests URLs that I have used in the past. Most of the time my desired URL is in the list so I click on it. However, sometimes Firefox ignores my click and tries to connect to a website named whatever I had typed.

Last night this occurred when I had typed only the letter 'a' into Firefox. Little did I know that this would take me to Apple's website. I no longer have to type 80% of Apple's name. Sweet.

Hey! Where Was My Amazing Race?
It's rare when I spend the majority of the evening home (just look at my "WALK IN MY FOOTSTEPS" section). After eating a nice dinner at La Casita with my friend Glenn I strolled home for an evening of Internets and RealiTV. For this TV season my week usually has a nice RealiTV pattern

Monday: The Apprentice
Tuesday: The Amazing Race
Wednesday: Top Chef
Thursday: Survivor

How did I ever manage without my Dish DVR?

However last night there was no The Amazing Race; it has been moved to Wednesdays. WTF CBS? Why fuck with the tv schedule now?

[UPDATE @9:35am]: I just swiped this from today's USA Today

•Amazing switch.The Amazing Race hit a season-low 9.2 million viewers Tuesday, finishing third in the 10 p.m. ET/PT hour, which explains why CBS quickly moved it to 8 ET/PT Wednesdays beginning tonight. No such luck for Monday exiles Out of Practice and Courting Alex, which were benched.

Road Rules
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed a growing trend of people ignoring all traffic rules? I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to speeding, but all other rules I try to follow, including using that little lever known as the "turn signal." Seriously, people no longer are willing to drive an extra block and turn around when they realize that they are about to miss their turn; instead they'll jump across lanes to "make it." Red lights and turn arrows have become mere "suggestions" in this town. And people are more than willing to block an intersection just so that they don't have to sit through another traffic signal's cycle.

This morning while waiting patiently for an opportunity to make a right on red some guy behind me grew impatient and came around my driver's side in order to make a right-hand turn from the wrong lane. This is my blog so assume that I was completely innocent, but truthfully I was waiting there for no more than thirty seconds watching a stream of traffic pass when he pulled his stunt. Perhaps he was enraged by my heinous act of turning a light on quickly so I could read the fucking clock which does not illuminate in my car...

It's Not Easy Being Green
Simmer down now, this has nothing to do with Muppets. Instead it refers to my confusion with our desire to destroy this planet. When you throw something "away", where is "away?"

This morning at work I witnessed someone prepare a coffee / hot chocolate concoction in a styrofoam cup (issue #1 -- If you work here every day, why not have a ceramic mug that can be reused?). When she poured the coffee into the cup she discovered that it was cold coffee from yesterday. She then poured out the liquid, threw away the styrofoam cup and started the whole process over with a new cup! (issue #2: Was it really necessary to use a second cup? Why in the hell couldn't she have rinsed out the two-minute-old original cup which had touched her lips once and reused it?)

The Streets Are Alive With The Scum Of Pollen
I know, every Atlanta blogger has mentioned the blossoming of the pollen recently. Tonight I'll be braving the pollen, not to mention the traffic, and running through it by meeting up with the six o'clock "B" team at George's. Of course I'll be rewarding myself for this heroic effort with a frosty adult beverage afterwards.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - Not too shabby
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Ted Leo & The Pharmacists -- "Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead".
Website Of The Day - I'm ashamed to admit that I have visited the Reality TV Hall of Shame.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Every Day Is An Opening Day

2006-04-04T08:35:00.000-04:00

Whatcha think about my new catchy slogan? It's a bit inaccurate however since yesterday was opening day for the majority of Major League Baseball.

Mission Failed: 80% Complete, Part II
I just couldn't help myself last night. When I got home from my photography class I was so famished and irritable that I had to eat something. Cheese and crackers were my victims. I managed to go from 8pm Sunday night to 9pm Monday night without food (I had allowed myself black coffee and one can of Arizona Iced Tea Monday). Not bad. Not bad.

White Men Can't Dance
If you watched last night's The Apprentice you'll know exactly what I am talking about.

Where do I sign up to be Jewish? Lee, who once again bailed on his team in order to follow his religious beliefs (kudos for him), was apparently immune from being fired for this as well. Why do I think that people who are not on RealiTV shows would get fired by Trump? I could be wrong of course...

Go Gators! NCAA Men's Basketball Champs!!!
Oh you knew that you would see this today, didn't you? What better way to start baseball season than to have your alma mater wrap up their NCAA basketball season as champions.

CD Pick Of The Week
It's a tough week for me to pick a "CD Pick of the Week." Finally! According to Metacritic there are fifteen new CDs from which to pick today. My eyes were drawn immediately to two of the titles, the new Morrissey "Ringleader Of The Tormentors" and the new Flaming Lips "At War With The Mystics".

In honor of my friend Mike I will have to pick the CD from the Flaming Lips. Besides, it's way too sunny outside for me to think about listening to Morrissey today.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - 80% good
Current Music - listening to the "Five Hundy By Midnight" podcast.
Website Of The Day - Need to settle that bet about who won last year's MVP in the American League? Want to know how many career victories Tom Glavine needs to get to 300? My favorite site for baseball stats is Baseball Reference.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, I had to give the legs a rest.
Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Look Who's Fasting

2006-04-03T08:15:00.000-04:00

With all of the exercise that I performed this past weekend I still managed to eat and drink enough to make myself feel bloated and disgusting. It's a talent, one I wish that I could lose again. I am going to try and fast today, although I have a feeling that I am not going to make it.

Mission Failed: 80% Complete
Eventhough the weather was 180 degrees different, well not really that different but at least there was no snow, the results at my attempt at completing the fifty-mile ALS ride course (.pdf) up in Suches was the same -- DNF.

For thirty-nine miles I was "in the zone." I rode at will, and with the exception of the saddle sores which arose because of my lack of training, I was having a great time. The first hint of difficulty occurred as mile forty approached, my quadraceps started to cramp. I had been afraid of cramping so I consumed water, Gatorade and fruit the entire ride in an effort to fend it off. Unfortunately the cramping started as the worse part of the course was about to start. The final ten miles of the course climb up Wolf Pen Mountain, down the other side and then two small up-and-downs to the end. I had planned to ride fifty miles and my stubborness would not let me quit.

As I started to climb Wolfpen my quads started to cramp more frequently. In an attempt to quiet them down I got off my bike and walked. This practice occurred three times in total. When cramping occurred when I attempted to mount my bike and clip into the pedal I knew that the pain was too great and bailed -- forty-one miles into the ride.

There was great shame on my behalf for not finishing what I started. I get comfort knowning that it was not an act of God nor a mechanical breakdown that did me in, but rather something in which I am in control of in the future -- the lack of preparation for the ride. I shall return next year, on that you can guarantee.

Sunday, Better Sunday
Even with the loss of an hour's sleep Sunday's gorgeous weather meant that I had to get out and stretch the weary legs. This being a Black Sheep Sunday there was little doubt as to what the exercise of choice would be.

I hopped into the car and drove OTP (yikes!) to a land near a land called Newnan. While most of the trail was unusually easy we were greeted with a shoe-sucking swamp to end the day. My shoes will never be the same and I kind of wish that I had left them outside so that Mother Nature's tricks this morning could start to wash off the mud.

Signs Of The Times
While driving south on Moreland Avenue heading to the hash I saw two interesting signs. Had I more time I would have stopped and taken a picture of each for your pleasure.

The first sign was a handmade sign outside of a closed bar which read "No Traspass." There is really no need for this sign since I didn't want to enter the building when it was open, and I definitely have no desire to enter it now.

The second sign was even more startling. The sign was a re-election billboard for New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagin. The billboard read "Re-elect OUR MAYOR Ray Nagin" and included a headshot of Mayor Nagin. Even considering the high number of New Orleans residents who made their way to Atlanta after Hurricane Katrina I find it rather strange to have this billboard in Atlanta. I am also intrigued to find this billboard in a neighborhood inhabited mostly by African-Americans and wonder if the "OUR MAYOR" reference has a subtle, secondary meaning.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - feelin' huge and feeling very hungry already
Current Music - listening to the MacCast podcast
Website Of The Day - Nothing better than a food website when I am trying nott o eat. I present Tomatoes Are Evil.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - biking, forty-one miles on Saturday; hashing on Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Springing Ahead

2006-03-31T08:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a friendly reminder that most of the US will leap forward an hour at 2am Sunday morning. Remember to update your clock or you will be late to ~~church~~ ~~brunch~~ Black Sheep hashing.

"At the haash, the Black Sheep haaaash"

And Here's Another Good Tip
Most people know that you should check the batteries in your flashlights and smoke detectors (you do have flashlights and smoke detectors, right?) this weekend and again in the Fall when we fall back an hour.

However, a lesser known tip is to change the passwords to important computer accounts such as email this weekend. I bet if I asked ten people to name the last time they changed their email password nine would answer "never" or "I have no idea". It's your privacy, you may want to protect it.

Picasa Es Su Casa?
I've once again started playing with Picasa in an effort to "fix" the darkness of some of my point-and-shoot pics. Here is an early example of my work.

(Daniel, Andy, Paulie -- what a handsome group)

I admit the picture above is far from perfect, but at least you can see us whereas before we were all too dark to even recognize. I think my camera was in "Witness Protection Program" mode when the picture was taken.

I strayed from Picasa when I bought my iBook last year because it is a Windows-Only application. However, with a small virtual stack of photos that need help and me with scant little time to learn a more powerful application that can run on a Mac, I'm ignoring this shortcoming.

Bally Bally High
I've once again become a member of Bally Total Fitness. What can I say, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. This doesn't mean that I can't workout at other facilities, but I think it will mean the ending of my long-time relationship with Jeanne's Body Tech (a club I've been paying for but not visiting). Maybe if I start working out again I might even lose a few pounds...

Quarterly Report
Today ends the first quarter of 2006. I can't say that it has been the best of times for me. I've failed with almost every initiative that I had for Q1. I wish this was an early April Fool's joke, but sadly it's true. If you'd like to read an April Fool's joke today, go back and read my entry for April 1, 2005.

Mercurial Mr. Mould
What a difference a night makes. If you read yesterday's blog I gushed how much Bob interacted with the crowd. Last night? Notsomuch.

It seemed that Atlanta's early-onset pollen had started catching up to Bob because he admitted that his singing wasn't that good last night. It probably also didn't help when some guy kept requesting "Too Far Down", to which Bob replied "I heard you the first five times" and then I felt it necessary to chime in "He should have been here last night" (btw- unless I blacked out at some point Bob never played "Too Far Down" last night).

The set list was mostly the same. Bob played more newer material, including some unreleased songs and swapped songs played Wednesday for different ones on Thursday. In addition to "Too Far Down" I most noticed the removal of "Panama City Hotel", and the inclusion of "Needle Hits 'E'". "Poison Years" was also part of the set last night, though I cannot recall if he played it on Wednesday.

From The "Why Don't I Train For These?" Department
Tomorrow I am scheduled to ride the "Fabulous Fifty" mile course of the ALS Ride up in the mountains of North Georgia. You may remember that this was the ride in which we were snowed upon last year. Fortunately the weather calls for no such April Fool's shenanigans tomorrow, however the April's Fool will be me, the rider who has not been on his bicycle but once since last September / October. Historically I rarely train for these sort of things (and wonder why I am not in better shape or perform better), and sooner or later this mentality is going to catch up with me. Tune in on Monday to see if my number has finally come up...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - meh
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Rainer Maria -- "Catastrophe Keeps Us Together"
Website Of The Day - Introducing the World's First anti-social website Isolatr.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Hey Sother, If You Read This You Should Have Come Down To Atlanta This Week

2006-03-30T08:24:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the title, it's an InsideThePerimeter insiders' joke.

Hey Web Developers, Do Me A Favor
Please ditch the fucking sound from your websites, or at least initialize your site to have its sound muted until I turn it on. Some of us open websites at the office and it's pretty damn embarrassing to have some site start playing music loudly when you are not ready to mute it immediately. Just because you can have sound doesn't mean that you should have sound. My 2 cents.

More Reasons For Me To Hate Lake
I forgot to mention this yesterday, and for those of you who couldn't watch
The Amazing Race 9 on Tuesday night were probably pleased that I didn't have a spoiler yesterday. While I wasn't a huge fan of the "Double D's" I was more than a little pissed that Lake's decision to stall them at the roadblock was a major factor in their getting booted off on this week's episode. I'll miss the eyecandy.

Ach! Mein Gott!
Yesterday I decided to update my Amazon Wish List. Most of the items on the list are of "medium" and "high" priority, with a few exceptions categorized as "highest" priority. Well, that was until yesterday when I noticed that for some reason "highest" had been replaced with "Muss ich haben". I shit you not, somehow the German equivalent of "I must have" has replaced "highest", at least for one day. Is this Flickr envy, because Flickr greets us with a different language's term for hello everytime we log in?

Most Interactive Bob Mould Show Eva
The Bob Mould I saw last night was different from the Bob Moulds that I have seen in the past. This one was (mostly) at ease on stage. At points Bob even interacted with the crowd! This from a man whose only spoken words during a Sugar show years ago was "That's why we don't take breaks" when fans started screaming out the titles of Husker Du songs during a momentary silence. Bob talked about Asheville (the previous show), a smattering of current event stuff which ended in a joke about how "his people" (he's gay) would only picket if they canceled "Project Runway", how every new band, save She Wants Revenge, sounds like Joy Division (he challenged us to prove him wrong), and he asked what shows we had enjoyed recently. Bob even signed autographs after the show. All this and I was home by 10:30pm. Incredibly. Fucking. Cool!

As for the set... For the long time fan it was a flashback spanning twenty-plus years. Bob played for well over an hour, completing approximately twelve-to-fifteen shows (I can't count that high). The set was Bob with guitar; he started with an electric-acoustic (is that a misnomer?) and about two-thirds of the way through transisition to his electric-blue electric Fender. The set consisted of songs from Husker Du ("I Apologize", "Hardly Getting Over It", "Makes No Sense At All", "Celebrated Summer"), Sugar ("Hoover Dam", "Panama City Hotel", "If I Can't Change Your Mind", "Your Favorite Thing"), and of course works from his solo career ("Wishing Well", "Paralyzed", "Circles", "High Fidelity", "See A Little Light").

Hey! Where are the pictures? Um. I forgot my camera. I'll try to remember tonight. Yes, I'm going back for more. You'll recognize me as the nerd dressed in the Bob Mould "Modulate" t-shirt that I purchased at a Bob Mould show at the Variety Playhouse four or so years ago.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - actually? pretty damn good
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Eagles Of Death Metal -- "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)"
Website Of The Day - When a site such as Simply Bovine gets sent to me, how can I not pick it? Thanks Stacy.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Four More Beers! Four More Beers!

2006-03-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a fun time hanging out with Maigh, Aaron (sp?), reader Oliver (dude, start that damn blog), and too-good-to-be-a-reader-or-blogger Kim at the North Highland Pub. My dinner consisted of four pints of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, at least until later when I munched on some Ritz crackers and cream cheese (hey, remember how healthy I am?).

I'm An Adult Now
Today I going to rent my first safety-deposit box from a bank. Oh, the responsibilities of adulthood. For some reason I feel the need to have off-site storage for some of my prized possessions (don't worry, the original Pat Benatar t-shirt from the Crimes of Passion tour in 1980 will still hang in my basement).

I Got My $2
Last week when I bought a beer at Ted's Montana Grill I received these as part of my change

At first I thought I was handed something like "Ted's Bison Bucks" house cash, but then quickly realized that they were actually real $2 bills.

Bob Mould: Night One
Tonight I will be attending the Bob Mould show at Eddie's Attic. I'll also be attending tomorrow night's show and this will mark the first time that I have purchased tickets for back-to-back shows. I am intrigued to see how different the shows will be.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - foggy from the weather not the beer
Current Music - listening to Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" podcast
Website Of The Day - Photo.net is a neat site for seeing what others are doing with their cameras. It's also a good place to read some reviews of camera equipment.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

The 'R' Is Silent

2006-03-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've determined that it's very rare when I correctly type the word "your." So if you ever receive an email from me which contains a line like this

Why don't we meet at you house at 9.

you should understand that it's not my New York accent bleeding through, just some mental typing block.

I also have a problem with typing "in the" which always comes out as "int he" thanks to many years of C programming.

Look Who's Healthy
I received a voicemail from my doctor's office yesterday giving me the news that I am as healthy as a horse. I've got good blood pressure, my urinalysis came back clean, cholesterol levels are fine, no hernia, and nothing unexpected happening where there's a sign that says "Do Not Enter." Sure there are the issues of drinking too much and needing to drop some weight, but must we pick nits?

Killer Cereal, Not Cereal Killer
I want to develop an adult cereal. Technically I guess all adults (especially immature ones like myself) can still eat cereal, but I want to develop a fun cereal targeted at adults. I want to develop "Coffee Puffs." Coffee Puffs would be very similar to Cocoa Puffs but instead of tasting like chocolate they'd taste like coffee. It seems like a natural to add milk and sugar to Coffee Puffs just like you would other bowls of cereal. Once people have Coffee Puffs in their pantry they can kick the Starbucks habit. What time of year do they hand out the Nobel Peace Prize? I'll keep my schedule open.

My First Trip To Wrigley
Probably won't happen this year. As I've mentioned, I will be in Chicago this summer and as chance would have it the Cubs will be playing home games against the Cardinals while I am in town. Being the ingenious person that I am, I decided to buy a single ticket to the day game to be played on Friday July 28th. Here is where the "best" single seat available is

Damn, that really sucks.

And Don't Forget
Maigh and I will be hanging around North Highland Pub tonight at 7pm collecting goods for Andy's neigbors who lost everything to a house fire last weekend (read more). If you have the time come around, say hello, and bring something for the family or kick in a few bucks.

CD Pick Of The Week
Only four new releases today. With such a slim set of choices I have to pick the Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Show Your Bones" cd. Admittedly I have heard nothing from this disc. What, this doesn't please you? Then I say go "alternative country" and pick up a copy of Atlanta's own National Grain's self-titled release. You'll be supporting a local act and that's never a bad thing.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - goofy, cuckoo for Coffee Puffs
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing -- Cat Power "Living Proof"
Website Of The Day - What's in a name? Sometimes not much as witnessed by the website Big In Japan which is developing a Web2.0 toolbox for all of us digital carpenters.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Away From My Keyboard

2006-03-27T06:57:00.000-05:00

Even if I had gotten ITP Central back online this weekend, I wouldn't be able to communicate today. My day is completely accounted for with an all-day work event. Don't let this dissuade you from leaving comments.

Paulie's Peach Fuzz
Mmmm bison. As planned I went to Ted's Montana Grill for lunch on Friday. Mmmm bison.

While at Ted's I saw Atlanta actress Jen Apgar having lunch with her mother. You don't care? Well I do because I think that she is pretty cute.

Taxing My Nerves
Why does it cost over $50 in order to file my taxes and get my return electronically deposited into a bank account? I feel just like I did on Friday when I laid upon the examining table in the fetal position. And to think that I used to be miffed when I had to affix postage to my tax returns. Hell, in retrospect that was a fucking bargain!

For any tax accounts in the audience, this is officially the last year that I will be doing my own taxes. I am completely tired of this task and will be outsourcing it next year. Keep me in mind...

Homeward Bound
I had four options for Saturday night. Four!

Jenny Lewis @ Variety
Nine Black Alps @ The Loft
Dave's True Story @ Red Light Cafe
a party

I managed to do none of them and I stayed home alone instead. My Saturday evening consisted of doing my taxes and watching the movie Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. For Wallace & Gromit fans I highly recommend the movie, for all others you may want to pass.

Casita. Casita.
For some reason I was craving Mexican this weekend. And when I am at home that generally means eating at La Casita Cantina. So not only did I eat at La Casita, I ate at La Casita twice. May I suggest the burro with asada, a side of chips with salsa two-ways, and a beer? This meal did me right twice.

The only problem I had with eating out this weekend was that on Sunday I felt like Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy. I was the only person in there eating alone, the remainder of the restaurant consisted of couples and one group of six.A ll that was missing was the big flood light accentuating the fact that I was alone.

Privately De.licio.us
I just read some cool news, de.licio.us now allows users to add bookmarks that are not visable to the public. In a sense this violates the premise of de.licio.us as a social bookmarking site, but sometimes I want to add bookmarks that are of use only to me.

Go Gators: NCAA Basketball Edition
Well, all of the teams I picked for the Final Four have been knocked out of the tournament. Yes, this means that I predicted my alma mater wouldn't make it to the Final Four. Oops. However, this means that I can root for the Gators whole-heartedly now.

One Of My Homework Photos
Tonight I am to submit three photos for critique. Here is the one that I think is the best of my lot.

I am slowly starting to learn how to use my camera (a Nikon D50 for those of you not in the know). At this point in time it's just a matter of getting me to think like a photographer, something that I have never really done before.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing -- Pavement "Summer Babe (Winter Version)"
Website Of The Day - Need more music podcasts? Give AMP - the association of music podcasts a try.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, 7 miles on Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It's Not Like I Need A Reason To Visit A Bar

2006-03-26T15:52:00.000-05:00

But on Tuesday night I will be joining Maigh at the North Highland Pub to collect money/goods for Andy's neighbors whose house caught on fire the other day. See Andy's Flickr Photos for more.

It's during times like these that I remind myself that it doesn't take a monumental disaster (hurricane, typhoon, tornado, etc) for people to lose all that the own, and that if I were ever placed in a similar situation I would hope that people would help me out.

According to Andy the children in need are
- Paris (5 y/o girl) wears size 6-7, and a kids small
- Robert (11 y/o boy) wears size 16-18, and a kids large
- Omar (14 y/o boy) wears size 18, and a kids extra large

Of course if you have any housewares, gift cards, or cash I am sure that the family will take them as well.

Paulie [eatl/ga]

The Devils Went Down To Georgia

2006-03-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

It was a tough night to be a Devil (or even a Devil fan) in Atlanta last night

New Jersey Devils 5
Atlanta Thrashers 6

LSU Tigers 62
Duke Blue Devils 54

E Shoots, E Scores
Last night I was given a free ticket to the Thrashers game. What a fantastic game (with the exception of the fight that nearly broke out in our section because we told some Devils fans to sit down -- they were in the front row of the section, there was absolutely no need for them to stand up).

As you might imagine with a Thrashers game occurring at Philips Arena and something called the NCAA Sweet Sixteen (I was excited because I thought perhaps that I could find a date) occurring at the Georgia Dome, the CNN Center food court was packed ~~nuts-to-butts~~ ~~tits-to-pits~~ to the gills. That didn't stop me from consuming some chinese food and nearly two complete $6 beers (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) prior to the game's start. Bad, bad, bad for the waistline. Good, good, good for the psyche.

MARTA Stories
I had my first ~~Bahama~~ Marta Breeze experience last night. I admit that I didn't understand how I could turn my token into a Breeze card (I'm no alchemist, you know) but the friendly Marta employee walked me through the procedure.

While on the subject of Marta, I've learned of an interesting drinking club (like I need another). Over at Atlanta Pub Crawls they are have altered Marta's acronym to stand for Moving Alcohol Rapidly Through Atlanta by organizing pub crawls that use the train to get from bar to bar. As I understand it they will be holding a pub crawl Saturday night starting at 6pm. If this sounds interesting to you check out their website.

There Comes A Time In Every Man's Life
Nearly nine months after turning forty I am going in for a physical. I believe that today will be that physical, although I won't be sure until I am asked to sing a few bars of "Swing Low."

But Then I Going For Bison!!!
Lunch today will find me at Ted's Montana Grill downtown. I'm meeting up with one of my brother's pals and going to be discussing some finances. It's time to plan for the future, unless of course that physical goes dreadfully wrong.

I'll have my camera in tow (and if you read that as "cameltoe" you are complete fucked in the head -- just like me) and hoping to snap some photos while strolling downtown in order to finish my homework for this week.

Lust For Life
This is probably not about who you are thinking about, it's about someone else -- Phoebe Cates. Since I first set eyes upon her in "Fast Times At Ridgement High" well over twenty years ago I have followed her career closely. And for the last seventeen years I've been jealous of her husband Kevin Kline.

I read yesterday that Cates has opened a shop called Blue Tree in New York and has been seen working the register. Hmm, me thinks that the next time that I am in the Big Apple I might have to drop in...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - ready to be poked and prodded
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing -- Ben Folds Five "Don't Change Your Plans"
Website Of The Day - While I won't be using Num Sum for number summing (get the name now?) today, it looks like a really cool online spreadsheet. More Web 2.0 for you weekend.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing (this is really no way to lose weight, is it)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

These Are The Hardest Days

2006-03-23T08:10:00.000-05:00

Most days I start out with a concept for the daily blog. Today I am drawing a complete blank. Keep reading nonetheless, sometimes you can polish a turd...

An Update On ITP Central
My linux firewall (now running Ubuntu) is still not operational. I blame my Manager/Agent (me) for scheduling too much stuff during the week and weekend trips. Some of you may notice that I have occasionally been able to reply/respond during the day, that's been accomplished through the use of my portable devices and the limited ability to find a free WiFi signal. Hopefully this weekend I will be back online. I appreciate your patience with my slow email responses.

I'll See You And Raise You $10
With half of Digital 101 over (oh crap, must remember to do homework) I am considering signing up for Digital 102. When I went on to the Showcase School's website today I noticed that they have raised the price of their classes by $10. Don't get me wrong, I still think that the price is reasonable, I was just startled to see a price increase.

Loving The Prime!!!
A while ago I mentioned a free three-month trial for Amazon Prime that I passed on. Well, since then I have actually signed up for the trial and am loving it! Free two-day shipping on everything! I realize that I will do more shopping at Amazon, which is exactly what they want, but if I can get near-realtime gratification for eighty dollars a year I think it's money well spent.

So That's What You Learn In Athens...
I was going to make this today's website of the day, but the opportunity to give more space to Virtual Vaudeville and dig at the University of Georgia was just too tempting.

Yes you read that right, Virtual Vaudeville. Fuck, not even I am old enough to remember Vaudeville. However, thanks to the scholars over at UGA I can experience the heydey of Vaudeville while sitting at my twenty-first century desk. Woof. Woof. Woof.

Seeking To Expand The ITP Empire
Like I need another excuse to spend money, I am looking to buy a little recorder that I can sneak into to venues to attempt a little recording (I blame you internets for making me a bad man). I know that iPod (which you know that I am an owner) has killed off many of the other mp3 players, but if you have a suggestion that's

currently manufactured
has line-in for a mic
produces decent sound recordings

I'd like to hear about it. If I can buy it at Amazon, I might even be happier...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - blank
Current Music - listening to the "Perfect Head" podcast
Website Of The Day - Have to do presentations you say? Don't want to resort to Powerpoint (boring!)? Then give Thumbstacks a try. It's filled with Web2.0 goodness!

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing (twice something out of my control got in the way. I am not happy)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Pass The Dutchie, It's A Mostly Musical Edition Of ITP

2006-03-22T07:53:00.000-05:00

No Farhfugnugen For Yougen
Followers of this season's The Amazing Race will now know that Atlanta's own Wanda and Desiree have been eliminated.

IMHO their grave error was letting Wanda (mother) drive the Autobahn. You'd think that driving on 285 or on the Connector should have prepared her for this, but apparently not.

On a side note: Every time I hear that somebody is from "Atlanta" I want to know if they are really from Atlanta or one of the surrounding areas that can get lumped in as being part of Atlanta. Oh wait, I just read in their bio that Wanda is from Smyrna while Desiree is from New York.

I'm Sorry, But You Are Not The Cars
I know that you call yourselves The New Cars because your band consists of Elliot Easton (btw if anyone has his solo release "Change No Change" on CD please let me know) and Greg Hawkes. However, the lack of the major forces behind the original The Cars (Ric Ocasek [apparently not interested], Benjamin Orr [R.I.P.]) means that your really stretching the truth.

This would be like Peter Criss (holy shit, he looks like a morph between Martin Short and my dentist) and Ace Frehley getting The New Kiss together without including Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

Having said all that, I'd actually pay to go see this new lineup if not for the fact that they are scheduled to play at Chastain Ampitheater. I. Loath. Chastain.

MMM Is For Music
It wasn't until I sat down to rip my new CDs to mp3's that I realized what I had done. The last three CDs I have purchased are by bands whose name start with 'M'. Manchester Orchestra's "You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, Brilliance Needs An Editor" (purchased a few weeks back at their show), Matt Pond PA's "Several Arrows Later" (purchased last night at Decatur CD) and The Minus 5's "The Minus 5 (The Gun Album)" (also purchased last night). [before you say "But The Minus 5 starts with a 'T'!" keep in mind I store it as "Minus 5, The"]

Of the three the Manchester Orchestra disc is the one that will most likely get the most play. Although they borrow heavily from Death Cab For Cutie and Bright Eyes the songs on the disc are very well crafted (with the exception of the cough that appears in the final track).

Ground Thyself Lazy Man
I was supposed to go to The EARL to see The Selmanaires and The Joggers last evening. However, since I didn't get any exercise in prior to the show, I grounded myself. Childish? Perhaps. Effective? Only time will tell...

And So That I Don't Repeat History
You think "It's Wednesday, Paulie must be heading to George's tonight." I say "Nope." This month's Thursday Night dinner group is meeting up on a Wednesday this month. So that I don't have to repeat last night's punishment I will force myself to run at lunch.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - getting there
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing The Replacements -- "Androgynous"
Website Of The Day - I just heard about a music magazine called Performer. The have three regional editions. For those of us in the Dirty South, I suggest reading their Southeast Edition.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I'm Not A Lumberjack, But I'm Okay

2006-03-21T08:30:00.000-05:00

I now am 100% lumberjack-free as the winter beard has been shed. This will become ironic if the caricature of myself that I commissioned ever arrives. I guess I'll have to commission a clean-shaven Paulie caricature now...

When two people in as many days tell you how old you look with a beard it's time to make a change.

Thick As A Brick
I just don't seem to get this whole digital SLR thing. The pictures I took for my second homework assignment are just shit. I know, patience Grasshopper. Patience is a virtue that I don't have in large supplies.

In addition I've still got that whole "I am afraid that this new camera is broken and that I'll have to give it up for some period of time so that it can be repaired" phobia. Why? Because unfortunately for me, that's the way my life works.

Built To Spill No Longer Built To Perform
I received an email yesterday informing me that I was to receive a refund for the Built To Spill / Camper van Beethoven show at the Variety Playhouse in May. Apparently at least a portion of the tour has been cancelled. Pity, I was really looking forward to it.

Closing Of An Era
Fat Asian Baby has shut down. Fear not, she has not gotten in trouble with the law, instead I have read that she has been offered an offer she can't refuse, but one that requires her to kill the blog. I look forward to seeing the creations that come from her in the future...

Since Shoobie hasn't been a regular blogger recently, keep an eye on this space to learn about corned beef announcements. (fyi - I'm not Jewish, but since I am half-Irish I consider myself to be qualified to make these announcements)

Apparently You Don't Read My Blog, Do You?
Not you, you are very attentive...

Yesterday I received a piece of spam (which somehow made it through the filters) sent to the email associated with this blog. What made this message noteworthy was that it was kindly informing me of an upcoming bridal event that will be taking place in Atlanta in the near future.

Um, I am neither female, nor have I been on a date in over a fucking year! (issues, I apparently have issues)

As you can tell, for some reason being reminded of these facts (the no-dates, not necessary the lack of a second X chromosome) has bothered me. Meh!

Music Worth Buying?
The number of the count shall be twenty, not nineteen nor twenty-one, but twenty. That's how many new (American) releases there are today according to Metacritic. Perusing the list I see a few entries that I might consider.

First there is the release of "The Back Room" by The Editors (I looked for their site, but google returns to many generic hits). I've heard a couple of songs of this disc via a podcast that escapes me right now and thought that they had a decent sound.

Another release that sounds good to me is the release of "Bring It Back" by Mates Of State, who if you are not doing something stupid like riding 50 miles in north Georgia on April 1st, will be playing in Atlanta on March 31st at the Variety Playhouse¹.

1 : Not that I could make the show even if I wasn't riding because I would be going to see The Minus 5 at Smith's Olde Bar on that evening instead.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - blah
Current Music - listening to the "Perfect Head" podcast (sorry, it's neither about beer nor sex. it's a music podcast)
Website Of The Day - I need a good laugh today so I think that I will be creating my own silly walks using Monty Python's Silly Walks Generator a lot.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Back From Black

2006-03-20T07:55:00.000-05:00

I've Never Been So Cold In My Life
I drove up to Black Rock Mountain knowing that it was going to be cold. I drove up to Black Rock Mountain knowing that there would be a huge campfire. I drove up to Black Rock Mountain knowing that I would be consuming massive quantities of alcohol. I assumed that the latter two would help me overcome the first.

After failing "Mission #1" (left for the reader to interpret) on Friday night I left the campfire after "Buzzkill" ("PMS" to hashers in the know) shut down the loud, drunken singing and went into my tent to snuggle in my sleeping bag. I'm not sure how many times I woke up shivering and absolutely miserable. On Saturday morning I vowed to pack up my tent and leave.

Of course after I started drinking again on Saturday morning the concept of leaving camp was forgotten, although the agony of the previous night was not.

When one of the hashers asked me if I wanted to spend the night on the unclaimed couch in the cabin they were renting, my only question was "What time are you all heading up there?" I may be dumb, but I am not stupid.

Here's what happens when hashers are left to their own devices.

Think Of All The Time I Will Save!
My weight is completely out of control. Could it be the food? Could it be the drinking? Could it be the lack of exercise? Yes. Yes. Yes.

For me gaining weight is like a criminal returning to prison. I can't go back. I can't go back!

Until I can get my weight in check I will be abstaining from eating out, attempting to drink less (I know that I do not want to give it up completely), and will be exercising more. I won't be in shape for the wedding that I will be attending in April, but hopefully I'll be in the shape I want to be in before the two I will be attending in October.

Nothing Like A Good Scare In The Morning
While trying to get some of my homework done for my photography class, my brand new Nikon dSLR decided not to play along. As the cold sweat emerged from my pores, I pulled the memory card, said a quick prayer, turned it off and on again, and then it decided to play.

Not being able to complete my homework doesn't bother me much, what does scare me is that I just bought it and it wouldn't work. I hope that this is not an indication how it is going to behave the entire time that I own it...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - bummed and hungry
Current Music - none, Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" podcast
Website Of The Day - Unless my camera craps out, I will be visiting Just Show Me How as an additional learning tool.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - hashing, ? miles up at Black Rock

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Erin Go Braless!!!

2006-03-17T07:41:00.000-05:00

With the fear that I'll be hit upside the head with a shillelagh (thanks Dictionary.com for the proper spelling) by Maigh, I wish you all a Happy St. Patty's Day. I'm half-Irish therefore I can mangle the name of today's holiday if I wish.

Broke Black (Rock) Mountain
This weekend I'll be heading up to the wild land known as Black Rock Mountain State Park for a camping weekend. It's camping the way I like to camp, I will never be more than 500 yards away from my car. When I "get away from it all" I really don't want to get away from it all. Now before you go and call me a pussy, check out the weekend weather forecast for the mountain

brrrr

Have You Heard About The Lonesome Loser?
Once again I have gone to an Atlanta venue to cheer on one of my favorite New York sports teams only to tast defeat. Last night I met up with a handful of hashers to see the Islanders play the Thrashers. While it was an entertaining game, I left the building dejected.

Not to sound too much like Clark Howard, but here is a great tip for getting drunk on the cheap. Gorin's in CNN Center my friends, Gorin's. Get there early and load up on $6 32-ounce bevvies and you probably won't give two shits who wins the game.

Beer: consoling losers for centuries.

Come Play In My Playground
Awhile back I picked the site Wayfaring as my Web Pick Of The Day. The other day I was playing around with the site and came up with this.

Pretty cool, eh? I'm not done with it yet, it's a work in progress...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair; I'm not going to work but I have stuff to gather for this weekend
Current Music - Something be The Selmanaires on Album 88
Website Of The Day - Here's another web video player, a la YouTube, it's called Veoh. Another one? Oy vey!

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, 6 miles (the Emory course)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Feeling Perky

2006-03-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

Cup Of Joe To Go
I couldn't help but stop for some coffee on my way in today. And, my morning *cough* drive *cough* options are growing. In addition to Joe's Coffee, I can now stop at Perk (site under construction) in Glenwood Park (a little bit out of my commute path), or the newly-opened Inman Perk Coffee. However, being a slave to routine and hoping to see the lovely Ellen at Joe's I keep returnign to Joe's.

Why iTunes? Why?
For some strange reason all of the podcasts in my iTunes Podcast library at work were duplicated yesterday. Naturally (since I am anal-retentive) I went through and deleted the duplications and cleared out my Recycle Bin after I was done. Only then did I realize that my efforts effectively wiped out all of my podcasts because I must have deleted only the originals. Dammit!

On a brighter note I heard a great iTunes tip on the MacCast podcast that I listened to yesterday. For some time I have been bothered that podcasts show up in my main iTunes library. This was especially bothersome in the past when I tried to delete a lot of music from my library without deleting the podcasts. Yesterday's MacCast podcast taught me how to eliminate (without deleting) the podcasts from the library listing.

Here's how:
While you are viewing your iTunes library, click on "Edit" menu and then select "Search Bar". With the Search Bar visible you can click on "Music" and it will filter out anything that is not a music file. Cool! At least I think so...

Bracketology
This time of year I always find a fiver to give to "charity" (read "someone who understands college basketball much more than I do"). If you are feeling charitable too, feel free to click on my bracket shown below and make a copy. Go ahead, give until it hurts...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - okay, but the weather is so perfect that I wish I had taken the day off from work in order to go out and play with my camera
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Plastic Constellations -- "Sancho Panza" (they sound a lot like 311 to me)
Website Of The Day - You say you can't find the new music on the Interweb? Well my friend, have you tried going to Elbows the mp3 blog aggregator? I didn't think so...

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, 6 miles (the Emory course)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Got To Get Running

2006-03-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

Looks Like He Got Hit By The Big Whammy
After posting yesterday I read that former host of the game show "Press Your Luck" (BIG MONEY! BIG MONEY! NO WHAMMIES! NO WHAMMIES!) Peter Tomarkin died in a plane crash the other day.

Those of you who have read this space for a long time should remember that I am a game show junkie (original hosts of "Wheel Of Fortune": Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford). Therefore eventhough Tomarkin was a minor celebrity at best the news hit me kinda hard.

More WOTD Fun
Yesterday's Word Of The Day was "uxorious"

uxorious: excessively fond of or submissive to a wife

Hmmm, I always thought the term for that behavior was "pussy whipped."

Dude, Stop Sitting Me In The Dudes' Section
This is the second trip in a row that I have gone to the "new" Taco Mac and been seated at a table serviced by a dude. While Josh was an exceptional waiter, he was no Julia, the pretty young lass that who I thought was going to be my waitress because she took my initial drink order. Grrr.

Look Who Has Added A New Section!
Now you can watch my progress toward completing my Taco Mac Passport. I've added a new section (cleverly) called "TACO MAC PASSPORT BEERS" that will grow in conjunction with my beer belly. Now if I can just get them to stop sitting me in sections staffed by guys...

Fighting The Battle Of The Bulge
I'll be at George's Bar tonight for the running and the drinking. If I play my cards right I will do more of the running and less of the drinking in an effort to lose a few pounds. I have to keep telling myself that I will be attending three weddings this year and that I don't think that I fit into the suit that I bought just last year.

I Have Found Another Person To Hate
RealiTV is at its best when there is a nemesis to despise. I have identified such a person on this season's The Amazing Race, his name is Lake. Lake whines more than the children that they had on last season's Amazing Race Family Edition. In last night's episode he was whining that they had to fly to Russia because it was going to be cold. Jesus dude, have you never watch The Amazing Race before? Did you not know that you would be going all over the world? If not, why did you sign up for the race?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - okay, but the weather is so perfect that I wish I had taken the day off from work in order to go out and play with my camera
Current Music - nothing, listening to the MacCast podcast
Website Of The Day - Having trouble getting the brackets for this year's Men's NCAA basketball tournament? Well, those clever folks at Microsoft have created a template for Microsoft Office.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

BLG_543

2006-03-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

Today's title is an homage to those who refuse to give meaningful titles to their Flickr pictures. C'mon folks, don't be so fucking lazy. If you think that your picture is good enough for the world to see, then you should give it a title.

Stop The Stop Signs!
WTF!?! On my drive to work (I know, I should be back on Marta by now) I encounter a new all-way stop on Highland near the Roman Lily Cafe. C'mon, this is fucking nonsense!!! We already have the little "Hey asshole the Law stipulates that you must stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk" sign, there is no reason to force every car to stop thus interrupting the flow of traffic.

Please Don't Tell My Mother
My post-lunch and breakfast treats the last two days have been this

and this

Not exactly what a dietician would prescribe, but they do make me happy.

Blogging The Lines
As I mentioned awhile back the ATL Bloggers' network has gotten too hectic for me to find useful. In its place I have turned to Bloglines for my aggregating needs. I'm lovin' it! (sorry to steal your tagline McDonalds).

WOTD
One of the RSS feeds that I have subscribed to via Bloglines is Dictionary.com's Word Of The Day.

The "Word Of The Day" the other day was "crapulous" which means

1. Suffering the effects of, or derived from, or suggestive of gross intemperance, especially in drinking; as, a crapulous stomach.

Fantastic. I do wonder why they didn't save this word for one of the days after New Year's Eve, or St Patrick's Day.

CD Pick Of The Week
After looking at Metacritic's list of new releases for today I have come to the conclusion that I will be saving my money this week. There is nothing listed that piques my fancy.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - nothing, listening to the Leo Laporte's "KFI The Tech Guy" podcast
Website Of The Day - Now that we have experienced some warmer weather are you planning to do some Spring cleaning? Have stuff that is still good but you don't want to do a garage sale? Consider listing your items on Freecycle.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Who You Callin' Juvenile?

2006-03-13T09:10:00.000-05:00

Clap Your Hands Say Meh
You know that I love Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I picked their cd as my favorite of 2005, and their show last year at The EARL was fantastic.

Friday night's CYHSY show at the Variety Playhouse was superior to last year's show (with the exception of the microphone snafu at the show's start). However when comparing my emotions throughout the show, the intimacy of The EARL made that show much more enjoyable to me.

Am I Supposed To Know You?
Before going to the show Friday night I swung by the Edgewood Best Buy. Much to my surprise the place was hopping. Apparently the rapper Juvenile was scheduled to make an appearance and it was drawing a large crowd. Mr. White Bread (me) has no clue who Juvenile is so it's needless to say that I didn't get into the line in order to meet him.

A Little Bit Of Impressionism In My Life
I woke early yesterday so that I could drive up to Einstein Brothers in Midtown to get bagels for the Sunday Runners' group that was to meet at my house.

As I drove up 14th Street I noticed this cool image made available by the newly constructed 1180 Peachtree building.

Imagine my further surprise when I saw that Hannahbeth had posted this picture to Flickr yesterday... (which is might brighter than mine of course. Must. Learn. Photo Editing!)

Great minds thinking alike...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - not bad
Current Music - nothing, listening to the "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!" podcast
Website Of The Day - Where have all the cows gone? Check out the Cow Abduction website.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - hashing Saturday, running 7 miles Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Welcome To Blogger Mac

2006-03-10T11:26:00.000-05:00

I am at Taco Mac, my new Office Away From Office. While ITP Central is down Taco Mac is my haven for free WiFi. It doesn't hurt that I like to food at Taco Mac as well.

btw- What a disappoint when you are seated in Kelly's section only to find out that Kelly is a dude.

I just wanted y'all to know that I'm not standing on a ledge today and that once my hardware woes have been overcome, life InsideThePerimeter will return to blogging bliss.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I Really Hate Computer Hardware

2006-03-10T07:30:00.000-05:00

That is all.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - really fucking pissed off
Current Music - nothing
Website Of The Day - nothing

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It's Your One Way Ticket To Midnight

2006-03-08T23:35:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my bed. Don't worry, there is plenty of space to share. Since Inside The Perimeter Central is still not operational (keep reading), I'm blogging from the mansion.

Recipe For Computer Frustration
ITP Central only serves as a firewall and a gateway through which I can surf the Internet so I am looking to bring it back up with as small of a hard drive as I can (it currently runs with an ancient 15GB drive that I am not ready to wipe). Tonight I tried to install an old 40GB drive that I had laying around and install Ubuntu Linux on it. It no workey. I suspect the hard drive to be flaky, but thought it was weird was that Ubuntu wouldn't allow me to repartition the drive. I gave up rather quickly expecting to try again this weekend.

Ebbing And Flowing
Right now I am listening to Radio Wazee because I had to shut down my media pc in order to move its monitor to use with the firewall pc (have a kvm switch, but currently these two machines live in different rooms). Man my computer situation at home is completely fucked up. But I digress...

I used to listen to Internet Radio a lot but now that I have all of my music on demand I rarely do. This is typical with me. I'll probably wind up listening to Internet Radio for a few days straight and then get bored and go back to listening to my tunes instead.

Wow, Wazee just played "Tear You Apart" from She Wants Revenge. Eventhough they are an Internet Radio station they played the "radio edit" version. Lame! Lame! Lame!

I Am Sick Of Being Sick And Tired Of Being Tired
Not to mention Fat of being Fat. Oh wait, that makes no sense.

Seriously, a lot of people I know have been sick over the last three weeks and it finally hit me yesterday. Fuck. The last thing I need is to be sleeping a lot more and feeling no drive during the hours that I am awake. Besides, I am far too busy to experience downtime; just look at that schedule I've created for myself.

Frumpy Old Man
The other night I attended the Sovus Radio / Manchester Orchestra show wearing my light grey University of Florida sweatshirt. In the wrong light I looked like I was wearing pajamas. I felt like such a tool. While I'm not about to scurry over to Urban Outfitters or Hot Topic to pick up some t-shirts, I really do need to reevaluate my bar clothes. Perhaps I'll buy a really slick suit and pretend that I am some sort of slimy record exec.

As far as the show, I got to see four bands for $9 (including the $1 that Criminal Records charged for a convenience fee).

Here's a brief statement about each in order of enjoyment [most-to-least].

Manchester Orchestra : I liked their set enough to buy their EP at the show. That should indicate how much I enjoyed myself. The band was tight and into their set. I kept watching the lead singer rolls his eyes to the back of his head as if he was going to go into convulsions. Their set ended with a really nice song that could fit into a Bright Eyes CD without notice; that might be my only critism, we already have a Conor Oberst.

Sovus Radio : Not billed as the headliner, but they played last nonetheless. Full disclosure: I am hashing-friends with the bass player's father so I really came into the show wanting to like the band. And I did. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see their entire set because this old man had work in the morning. When I left I had started to feel that each song was like the previous. I could be wrong, I was sick and tired.

Libras : Best looking bass player of the night. I feared that she might be up there solely for her pretty face, but happily I was wrong. She's no John Entwistle, but now that he is dead John Entwistle is no longer John Entwistle either. Until I heard Sovus Radio the Libras were in second place on this list. In fact as I write this it is still a tough call. With a few more songs under their belt and continued energy displayed Tuesday night this will be a fun band to continue to watch.

Jonzetta : For an opening band, not bad. Had they not said "Thanks" between songs I might have thought they played one thirty-minute-long song. My toes were tapping on the first song, but by the third I had heard enough. I assume that they are young, so I wish them well in their endeavours.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - out of control and not in a good way
Current Music - Radio Wazee
Website Of The Day - Learn more about the Atlanta music scene by reading the Atlanta Music Guide.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - standing, 6 hours

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Gone Phishin'

2006-03-08T06:49:00.000-05:00

Today's Bloggus Interuptus is brought to you by the fact that I got home way too late from the Smith's Olde Bar and that I will be spending the entire day at Georgia Tech recruiting.

Until tomorrow,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

This 'Off The Interweb Grid' Thing Sucks

2006-03-07T00:15:00.000-05:00

[quick note: Until I have time to get Inside The Perimeter Central configured properly and back online my responses to comments and emails will be somewhat limited.]

I tried to set things up yesterday so that I could eat lunch at Taco Mac and use their WiFi. Unfortunately I forgot that I had to conduct an interview during lunch. I went to Locos for dinner because I thought that they had free WiFi; they do not. When I got home I had fifty emails.

It's now 12:05am and I am trying to get this done.

I Enjoyed Their Musical, Will I Enjoy Their Music?
Normally the weekend after my birthday is spent with the some of my Raleighite friends either in Raleigh or in Asheville, NC. This year will be different since they are now parents and "Uncle" Paulie isn't ready to spend a weekend with an infant that he didn't create.

You may remember recently I made mention of a desire to take a trip to Chicago. Thanks to Fat Asian Baby I found out that tickets for Pitchfork's Music Festival (held in Chicago on July 29th and 30th) went on sale yesterday. I'll give you one guess as to who purchased a ticket...

Who Says I've Got No Class?
Week One of Digital 101 is in the books. What can one expect for the first class of an Introduction to Digital class? We discussed many pre-picture-taking concepts, most of which I knew. I'm not dissatisfied however as I think that over the next six weeks I will learn quite a bit about photography.

What Was Up With All The Hair Being Up?
Was it just me or did anyone else notice that most of the women at the Academy Awards the other night had their hair up? Yes, some of us straight men notice these things. Someone help me out here. Were they all trying to show off the backless dresses? Was it so hot that almost none of the actresses (yes, I still use that term) didn't want their long tresses down? I just thought it odd.

Music For The Masses
And there is a whole lot of it from which to chose this week. Metacritic lists eighteen new releases for today. As you may expect, this makes my job a little difficult.

In this case I am going to chose the devil I know over the one that I do not. Therefore instead of picking I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness' "Fear Is On Our Side", I will choose the new release from Neko Case, "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood."

If you look over into the "WALK IN MY FOOTSTEPS" section you will see that I have already purchased a ticket for Neko Case's concert in Atlanta. I think that Neko Case is so pretty that I would enjoy her show if she did nothing else but stand up there and perform each song in sign language. I wonder if she plans to follow this season's hot fashion statement and put her hair up for the show?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - behind, way behind
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing the Zeros+Ones Show
Website Of The Day - It's a novel concept that someone is eager enough to try. TurnHere is producing short films about neighborhoods all across the country. Word on the street says that they have done one for East Atlanta, although I have yet to find it.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - walking, 3 miles

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Three If By Day, None If By Night

2006-03-06T07:38:00.000-05:00

[quick note: Until I have time to get Inside The Perimeter Central configured properly and back online my responses to comments and emails will be somewhat limited.]

Some would call me foolish for attempting to do as much this past weekend as I had planned. Let me say that I could have pulled it all off, except for that cure for cancer, but circumstances dictated otherwise.

Taco Mac, McDuff's, Out
As planned on Friday my first experience with the new Taco Mac near Perimeter Mall occurred after work. I think that I will be a regular customer there, especially since I am taking a hiatus from trivia and won't be getting my Taco Mac fix that way. The building is large, the beer is plentiful, the female staff is adorable, no smoking is allowed, and I once again started on a Passport (athough why I waited until Saturday to do this confuses me).

After a few pops at Taco Mac I meandered my way to Buckhead. My plan was to reminisce about the old days by drinking a beer at McDuff's and the head into ~~Celebrity Rock Cafe~~ Andrew's Upstairs for the National Grain / Patterson Hood show. However upon finding out that I would be flying solo, I changed plans and headed home after my beer at McDuff's (is that Another Man Down I hear playing?)

btw- Driving down Peachtree at night still freaks me out, even more so now that Three Dollar Cafe, the restaurant that defined my Buckhead, has closed.

Hashing, Taco Mac, Power Nap, Masquerade, Out
I knew Saturday would be the toughest day to pull off. Up and out of the house by 9am I met up with my co-hare Cheese Nips at the CompUSA near Perimeter Mall (you know, the one that I can see from my office; the one that's across the road from that new Taco Mac). Nips and I had a fun time laying the 5-mile trail and then headed to Taco Mac to celebrate with a beer before the hash started.

It was like Old Timers' Day at the Atlanta Hash on Saturday. I recognized all but one of the fifteen or so hashers in attendance, and I was unable to draw a single virgin (person who has never hashed).

After the hash was completed a large group of us went to, you guessed it, Taco Mac for some more libations. Sometime around 7pm I realized it was time for me to depart if I had any hope of making it to the Masquerade.

At home I decided a power nap was in order. I was right. However, unlike a few weeks ago I was able to get up and rally my ass into the shower and then out the door.

Once inside the Masquerade I knew something was different, and that something was me. I had no game. I had no attitude. I had no confidence. I had no desire to stand amongst the smokers while I attempted to drink lukewarm Pabst Blue Ribbon. I had no reason to stay. So I left after hearing about three "songs" from one of the bands opening for the Dropkick Murphys.

This lack of confidence at a music venue is unusual for me. Maybe it was because I didn't have the proper image (no black shirt, no mohawk, no tats). Maybe it was because I wasn't in the mood to be drunk and rowdy. I just had nothing.

I returned home where I quickly got under covers and started listening to my recorded "Matt Pinfield plays whatever the fuck he wants" show from Thursday night.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
Sunday was the most physically challenging day of the weekend. The Black Sheep Hash was somewhere on the order of six challenging miles, up down and around a rock quarry. All of the exercise made the pizza and wings consumed at Anthony's Pizza & Pasta all the more welcome.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - ok
Current Music - none, I am actually watching the Oscars right now
Website Of The Day - Just so you don't think that I have lost my juvenille touch, I present to you the Bounce-O-Meter. (warning, it has sound)

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - walking, 5 miles Saturday; hashing, 6 miles Sunday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Stuck On The Connector: My Former Best Friend Mike

2006-03-05T22:30:00.000-05:00

We all have people who we have met during our lives who have changed us. For some it's a teacher, minister, love interest, etc. For me, it was my former-best-friend Mike.

I don't really recall exactly when or how I met Mike, but my best guess is that we became friends when I was eighteen doing my first stint at Toys 'R' Us.

Mike was about my age then, a tad shorter than I was, had sharp sense of humor, a skateboarder, and budding guitarist. Mike had blonde hair which he could make stand on end, and when he would scrunch his face and make it turn red he'd look like the Heat Miser song from A Year Without A Santa Claus.

Mike was the one person to alter my taste in music.

As a youngster I was into the music that my New York friends and our brothers liked. We were into The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kiss, David Bowie, etc.

paulie fact:
first purchased cassette tape: Alice Cooper - "School's Out"
first purchased album: Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "Brain Salad Surgery"
first purchased cd: Pink Floyd - "Dark Side Of The Moon"

As the early eighties rolled around my parents finally introduced cable television into our household, and the world of MTV was brought to my world. While I was still interested in the music that I had grown up listening to, I found that there was a whole new world known as 'alternative'.

It was this music that solidified the bond between Mike and myself. Mike opened my eyes to Husker Du, Aztec Camera, Devo, Los Lobos, The Minutemen, REM, to name a few.

Mike and I would both read Spin Magazine and The Village Voice wishing that the bands that we liked would come to Clearwater, Tampa, St. Petersburg, anywhere near by so that we could see them. Mike was the reason I went to see Jason and the Scorchers perform at the University of South Florida back in '86.

The only Spring Break I ever spent in Daytona Beach was the trip I took with Mike, circa 1986. During that Spring Break we drank Shaefer Light ($5 a case!), saw Jay Leno perform for free and went to see the Golden Paliminos and 10,000 Maniacs perform for free at the stage on the beach.

When I moved up to Gainesville to go to the University of Florida I lost touch with Mike. While at Florida I ran into Mike a few times, once when he was working at a used CD store across the street from campus, and once when he was working at the Media Play. We never hung out together again as time had changed us both.

It's been nearly twenty years now that I've seen Mike. I have no need to ever run into Mike again in my life, but if I do I think that I will thank him for helping me get on the music trail that I have been following for so many years.

Is It Monday Already?

2006-03-03T08:06:00.000-05:00

I'm just getting myself ready for how I am going to feel on Monday....

Currently I think that I have about four unscheduled non-sleeping hours for this weekend, and this is as of 7:00am Friday morning!

Ignoring the time I'll be spending at work today, I am planning to

go to the new Taco Mac for happy hour tonight
see the National Grain / Patterson Hood show at Andrew's Upstairs after happy hour
lay tomorrow's Atlanta Hash trail Saturday
go to the Dropkick Murphys show at Masquerade Saturday night
run my friend Gentrifuckation's Black Sheep Hash trail Sunday
~~cure cancer~~ (probably won't have enough time for this)

So What Are You Doing?
Seriously, if you've never run a hash trail and don't mind running over, under, or through anything that this city has to offer, go to the Atlanta Hash website read up on what a hash is and then get directions to my hash start tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be perfect, the trail will only be 17 miles long (KIDDING!!!), and if it's your first hash it will cost you absolutely nothing. Wear clothes you wouldn't mind getting dirty, and do not, I repeat do not, wear new running shoes.

Yes, my hash name is Wee Little Bit. No, I will not tell you why.

Buh-Bye Bobby
Ooooh Yeah! And, if memory serves me right I was the one who picked Bobby to be ousted on Survivor last night. While Stacy has yet to produce the music that she can put on my iPod, I will not be waiting quite so long to infect hers. My only decision is what to choose. Old school: Husker Du? New school: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? Obscure: Steve Reich? Crap: no she already has enough of that. LOL!

(I had intended to put a link to my iTunes library here, but time ran out and I had to leave for work)

I Knew There Would Be Trouble
Earlier in the week I may have mentioned that my DSL provider was trying to contact me. They are changing their systems (from Bridged connections to PPPoE connections for you nerds in the house). Somehow I just knew that this was going to cause me grief. When I called them I explained my network configuration (I use a Linux firewall ahead of my router) and I stumped their tech guy. That's right, I stumped their "professional" because I have a Linux firewall! W? T? F? Unix / Linus backbones have been common internet components since the internet was created! (hey, thanks again Al Gore) How can these guys not be trained in this sort of configuration?

All of this wouldn't be nearly as bad if their deadline wasn't Monday. If you started reading this from the beginning, you might realize that I really don't have a lot of time to bone up on my Linux networking so that I can walk through this with them. Argh. If you don't see a blog entry on Monday I am either dead or ready to kill myself because I cannot get out to the internet.

Driving To The Oldies
Like Mr. Peabody (sorry, not this Mr. Pbody) and his boy Sherman I went into the Wayback machine this morning. I am nost sure if it was because I was priming myself for tonight's show or because I was trying to remember my youth, but I set the Wayback machine to 1986. This morning's drive into work was made enjoyable thanks to Jason and the Scorchers' "Lost and Found" cd. As lyrics spewed from my mouth (windows closed because I know that my singing isn't all that great) I was transported to the soccer field of the University of South Florida where I saw Jason and the Scorchers perform for free in 1986 with my then-best-friend Mike. (More about Mike in a future episode of Inside The Perimeter) Holy fuck that was a fun drive this morning...

Go Gators! Part 2
Recently I mentioned a really neat new website called Podbop. Podbop's mission is to alert you to the bands that will be playing in the city you choose. One of the free services they offer is a podcast feed for your city. Pretty neat.

As I found out yesterday, the creators of Podbop Taylor McKnight and Daniel Westermann-Clark are both University of Florida graduates! Woo Hoo. Go Gators!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - busy, hoping change-of-weather illness in not brewing
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Bright Eyes -- "Loose Leaves"
Website Of The Day - Wayfaring is yet another social mapping Web2.0 application. However, this one looks really cool. I may not be spending one of my four free hours this weekend playing on it, but I might next week.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Under Construction

2006-03-02T07:25:00.000-05:00

Fat Tuesday
Ash Wednesday
Recovery Thursday?

Running From The Law
For some reason last night's George's Bar Running Group "B" decided to run right into the thick of police activity that was going on in the Old Fourth Ward. Not familiar with the George's Bar running routes taken by my friends and I? Well, look down near the bottom of the right galley where you'll see a new section titled "George's Bar Running Routes" (damn I'm a marketing genius!). These maps were built using one of the handiest websites for runners, the Gmap Pedometer. Gone are the days when you have to hop into your car to see how long your running / walking / biking routes are.

One Think Leads To Another
I believe it was the noted poets The Fixx that said it best, "One thing, yeah one thing, leads to another." Such was the case the other day when I made yet another Amazon purchase.

In the past I heard about a series of short books that focus on a single album; the series is known as 33 1/3. While reading a blog entry over at Cable and Tweed the other day the 33 1/3 series was mentioned, specifically the book which focused on Neutral Milk Hotel's (there's that band again) "In An Aeroplane Over The Sea." I had to own it.

While perusing Amazon it was recommended to me that in addition to the book I might also be interested in buying the cd "Jeff Mangum Live At Jittery Joe's." Wha? I didn't even know this existed! Naturally that was added to my virtual shopping cart as well.

This live cd is pretty awesome because it was recorded prior to the recording / release of "In An Aeroplane Over The Sea." The cd is just Mangum with a guitar, playing, singing, and talking back to the audience. One of the best bits of banter is when Mangum describes "Two-Headed Boy, Part II" as and something that probably will never make it to a record. Sometimes the creative process pleases me as much as the final result.

Feeling The Need For Coffee
Need I say more?

Off to get some coffee.
*time lapses*
Okay, I'm back.

Under Destruction
One of the oddest things I've seen recently was a phrase painted on a house on Peachtree-Dunwoody which has just been engulfed by fire. The phrase "Trespassers Will Be Shot" is spray painted in yellow on the dark-brown, and now blackened, structure. (Snarky readers should remind me that I own at least one camera and this would be a great place to insert a photo) This sort of sentiment is not uncommon for victims of major catastrophes or in less-than-desirable neighborhoods, but in the somewhat affluent community of Brookhaven it is somewhat startling.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - not too bad, although I wish it was Friday
Current Music - none, listening to a Coverville podcast
Website Of The Day - The author of the Neutral Milk Hotel book is also the editrix for a pretty cool magazine, called Scram Magazine.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, 5.9 miles, run very slowly. The right knee feels "fair" and I am still learning how to stretch properly. Have I mentioned that the inside of my left knee has also started to hurt? Oh, advancing age you are such a fickle bitch.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Mmmm Lentil Soup

2006-03-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

This being the first day of Lent make sure you remember to eat your Lentil soup today. Listen to me drop it like I'm a major Catholic or somethin'.

Huh?
Not about the eating of the Lentil soup?
Give up something I enjoy for the next forty days in the name of sacrifice?
Oh fuck that!

As Thick As An Irish Brogue
As you should know by now I love my RealiTV stories. Last night was the premiere episiode of The Amazing Race. With the exception of last season's fiasco when CBS pulled out "The Amazing Race, Family Edition", "The Amazing Race" never has failed to hook me in when I've seen it from its premiere.

Could the casting staff at CBS have pulled in any more stereotypical couples?

Hot girly-girls clad in pink bodysuits: CHECK (who by the way have an annoying Staten Island accent, even for this former New Yorker)
Gay couple: CHECK
Wacky Bohemian best buds from San Francisco: CHECK
Older married couple: CHECK
Beach-loving studly men: CHECK
Puerto Rican mother and daughter (from "Atlanta"): CHECK
Long-time older-women friends who annoy the shit out of me: CHECK
Nerdy, slightly overweight couple: CHECK
Ken & Barbie who will be arguing constantly (times two no less!): CHECK and CHECK

All that was missing was a team consisting of an Irish Catholic and an Irish Protestant who will arguing about religion the whole time.

I am pretty sure that you have figured out that I will be glued to the television every week to watch the drama unfold. Damn you CBS. Damn you.

I Was *This* Close To Being Primed
Last night I made a minor purchase from Amazon. When I was checking out the site told me that I qualified for a three month trial subscription to Amazon Prime. Normally whenever I "qualify" for something I conclude that I am getting scammed and ignore it immediately.

Amazon Prime (this is not a sales pitch) provides free two-day shipping for a $79 annual fee. The good thing is that there is no mimimum necessary in order to use the two-day shipping option. The bad thing is that the program costs $79 annually. Considering that it would have cost me $11 to use two-day shipping on last night's order (I went for the $6 three-to-five-day shipping option) it doesn't seem like that bad a deal afterall.

Maybe I'll jump on the offer the next time I order...

Is It Pathetic To Go To The Theatre Alone?
I'm talking about a theatre, not a movie theater. I used to really enjoy going to see plays at the local theaters such as Horizon, 14th Street Playhouse, the Alliance, etc.

Many years ago I belonged to a club which would take in a play at five different theaters after each show a subset of the attendees would have an adult beverage or two (yes, I somehow manage to work alcohol into all of my hobbies. This club was known as the "Off Broadway Club of Atlanta." and it disbanded the year after I found out about it.

Over the last couple of years I have had the desire to go see plays, but without a date to accompany me, or a group of people to attend with me, I have let the plans die on the vine.

It's Elemental, Watson
Anyone out there have a copy of Photoshop Elements v3.0 for Windows that they are willing to part with dirt-cheap or free? Eventhough Adobe has upped the version to 4.0 people still want ridiculously high prices for this now-outdated software and I refuse to pay what they want.

Hell, I've even considered buying a piece of hardware that throws the Elements software in as a bonus. That's why I bought the scanner I own, and how I acquired Photoshop Elements v2.0.

And One More Thing...
Yesterday Apple introduced the iCeberg(?), the iAnchor(?), no they call it the iPod Hi-Fi.

Only $349 for a clunky speaker system (which takes six D-cell batteries!) so you can listen to 128kbps AAC files purchased from the iTunes Music Store. Yeah, I think it's a pretty stupid idea as well.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - Ashy, but very happy that the weather is finally playing nice
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Primal Scream -- "Rocks"
Website Of The Day - My DSL provider has alerted me that I will be experiencing a slight change in my connection configuration very soon. I guess it's time to bone up on my networking skills by reading the tutorials at Practically Networked.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - none. I had good intentions, but you know what the path to Hell is paved with, don't you?

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

The Only Day That Fat Is Okay

2006-02-28T08:10:00.000-05:00

This being Fat Tuesday, of course.

Sync Has Sunk
Yesterday I received a letter and returned check from Ziff-Davis Publishing alerting me that they have pulled the plug on Sync magazine. Sync was a mashup of Maxim and a tech magazine (no representative titles are coming to mind). Although the impact of this decision really only means that there will be one fewer unread magazine cluttering my house, I now don't know where I will be getting my "hip tech 411."

"ATL Bloggers Has Blown Up" or "When Aggregating Gets Aggravating"
Most people are shocked when they find out that I don't syndicate this drivel to ATL Bloggers, you know those people who are responsible for a night out drinking about once a month. (btw- I do syndicate to LiveJournal at this address) As of this writing ATL Bloggers has fifty-four authors. Also as of this writing I will no longer be able to go over to that site to read blogs because there is too much going on over there. I need a filter for the aggregator, and that just seems silly to me.

While I am here, it frustrates me that aggregate is spelled A-G-G-R-E while aggravate is spelled A-G-G-R-A. I am doomed to poor spelling, and will happily shake the hands of those who assembled Dictionary.com and the DictionarySearch extension for Firefox.

Third. It Rhymes With Turd
For the final Monday trivia before my self-imposed hiatus Meet The Hashers finished a disappointing third. The questions seemed harder than normal, although one team was able to amass a perfect score for the first half. I can't say that I was much help last night. Either the questions were way out of my realm of expertise or blatantly obvious.

Go Gators
I'm back on The Apprentice bandwagon, and have picked my favorite to win. Introducing Allie...

(if no picture appears above it's because NBC is fucking with their website)

Like myself Allie is a graduate of the University of Florida. Additionally, I have picked Allie based on Dave's highly scientific method for picking winners.

And in case you didn't watch the first episode [SPOILER ALERT] she was picked by Trump to be a Project Manager for the first week and her team won. Do I know how to pick them or what?

CD Pick Of The Week
Why doesn't Fat Joe release a CD every Fat Tuesday? The marketing potential is huge, much like Fat Joe.

According to my source (Metacritic) there are only five new releases today. Of those, I have really only heard music from one of the bands, and it's another of those "US release, already out in UK" releases.

Therefore, my CD "Pick of the Week" goes to Nine Black Alps and their "Everything Is" CD.

If you enjoy the music of Nine Black Alps I should remind you that they are playing in Atlanta at The Loft on March 25th as is noted in my newly-renamed section "WALK IN MY FOOTSTEPS" (sorry LJ readers, you don't get that section).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - Fat (Tuesday)
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Matt Pond PA -- "Several Arrows Later"
Website Of The Day - Leo Laporte has started yet another internet tv show, this one is all about Macs and is called MacBreak.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - day off

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Well That's No Way To Start The Week

2006-02-27T07:47:00.000-05:00

On my first go at this Firefox crashed (seg faulted for all you Linux heads). Take Two.

InsideThePerimeter, Morphing To The Oldies
This site is loooong overdue for an update, with its look not its content of course. I know that I have threatened this sort of activity in the past, but this week you may notice some minor alterations. Nothing drastic. Yet.

TV Worth Skipping
Over the last few weeks I've heard of a new British series called The IT Crowd (oddly pronounced "The it Crowd" and not "The I.T. Crowd") eventhough it is based around three people who work in an I.T. department. The show has gotten a lot of press because each episode can be viewed online.

Thanks to a rainy Saturday I finally had the time to view some of the episodes. Um, yeah. While it's far from the worst show ever to grace my screen, I really can't recommend it either. I've seen it all done before, better.

This Better Be The Best Fucking Flight Ever
I just booked travel to Durango, Colorado for the Colorado Invihashional in September. $470. I had hoped to use SkyMiles to make the trip, but as I think I mentioned last week our little Delta doesn't fly to Durango. I miss the "old days of flying" when you booked seven months in advance you'd get a decent fare.

Those of you who know me well shouldn't be surprised to read that my first goal when I touch down in Colorado will be to drink Fat Tire Ale, and my last will be to figure out how to bring some home with me.

Speaking of Fat Tire Ale, I have read that it is now available in Chicago. Maybe that's the impetus I need to make my first trip to the Windy City sometime this year. Delta flies there, right?

Ganging Up For One Last Go
Meet The Hashers will be ganging up to punish all at Johnny's Pizza tonight. This will be the last time in awhile that the whole gang will be congregating. It seems as if Beth and Brenan have this thing called a 'baby' coming very soon, and I've gone a signed up for a photography class which is to be taught on Monday nights.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - Not bad, although both knees are starting to act up and I am still sleeping too much
Current Music - none, listening to Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" podcast
Website Of The Day - I'm thinking about getting in shape to really run again. Get Fit Atlanta looks like a decent opportunity to get in shape.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running and walking, 7.2 miles of agony.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

A Case Of Mistaken Identity

2006-02-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

Stomp The Grape, Ascend Rocky Mountain
Last night I joined a small group for drinks and food after work.

Our first stop was The Grape (they have no website?), the new one across the street from the movie theaters in Atlantic Station. Back in the day (when I had the skills necessary to get women to go out on dates with me) I used to go to The Grape up in Vinings (OTP? Paulie? Yes, I was really trying to get "some" back then... it didn't work). Meet the new Grape, same as the old Grape. The place was filled with whatever today's classification for Yuppie is, they still have a menu which categorizes wine by number, the appetizers are still decent, and the $47 bottle of Syrah I ordered still tasted better than the $19 bottle of Syrah ordered by someone else at the table.

Once our veneer of class wore off we headed to an establishment in which we could be ourselves and hold our pint glasses without sticking out our pinkies, Rocky Mountain Pizza. At Rocky Mountain Pizza I dined on two glasses of Anchor Steam and many delicious hot wings from the pile of fifty that we ordered for the table. I believe the next time I need a wing fix I'll be heading over to Rocky Mountain Pizza. At Rocky Mountain I saw my friend Crissie leaving the bar and when I said hello she looked at me as if she had never seen me before. After a few seconds of processing, she recognized me. It was then I realized that she has never seen the bearded Paulie, and was thus appropriately confused by this strange guy saying hello. :)

To Show Or Not To Show, Yet Another Question
I am contemplating buying a ticket to the Minus 5 show at Smith's Olde Bar on March 31st. While I would really like to see the show, as you can see from my calendar (try looking at COMBO #1, I dare you) I haev also committed to doing a fifty-mile ride in North Georgia the next day.

I faced this same decision last year, choosing to skip the And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead show and it snowed on us during the bike ride.

Do I dare tempt the Weather Gods again this year?

I Think JFK Has Gone AWOL
I haven't seen my little feral friend JFK in a few weeks.

Given the fact that I have provided him food for the last two years I find it hard to believe that he decided that he wasn't happy hanging out in my backyard. I can only come to the conclusion that he has been adopted by someone else in the neighborhood, or has met his maker.

In what might seem as unusual emotion for me to emote, I really miss the little guy.

I Guess There Is Still Value In Aluminum?
The person who raided my overstuffed recycling bin (believe it or not my third such bin since my Super Bowl party) must have felt like a kid on Christmas. When I arrived home the other day I noticed that the recycling team had not come to empty my bin, but rather someone had come and liberated all of the aluminum cans. Bully for them I say!

Big Birthday Shout Out!
Today is my mom's birthday!

I called her this morning to wish her a Happy Birthday and she proceeded to confuse me with my brother. I had a feeling that this was going to happen since my brother is usually the "morning calling son" and I am usually the "evening calling son." This was confirmed when she told me to say hello to my brother's wife. I had a good chuckle out of the mishap.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - I am not sure. I am more than a bit disgusted, but perhaps things will get better as the day goes on.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Belle & Sebastian -- "Another Sunny Day"
Website Of The Day - I'll be spending some time this weekend reading the American Counces on Exercise's website.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, I was too busy living the drinking life.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Thinking Aloud

2006-02-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

Playing The "If I Leave Now" Game
This week I have successfully been able to turn off my alarm clock and go back to sleep. I wish I didn't do this. When I finally wake up I find myself playing the "If I get up by X, then I can get out of the house by Y, so that hopefully I can get into the office by Z" game. I can't even blame the cold weather this week.

To Combine Or Not To Combine, That Is The Question
In the righthand galley I have two sections "STUPID PAULIE TRICKS" and "LISTENING SKILLS REQUIRED". At first LSR was created to keep track of shows I have interest in attending, SPT was created to highlight some of the nonsense that I introduce into my life.

I find myself constantly cross-referencing these lists and I am wondering if I should just have one section which is my complete schedule.

Do you think it makes more sense to keep them separated, or combine them? (yes, I understand that this is my blog, but consultation rarely hurts). I have created a temporary combined list cleverly named "COMBO #1", check it out and see what you think.

Have Passport Will Travel
Five weeks after submitting my passport for renewal an updated passport is in my possession. Now if it wasn't so fucking expensive to travel...

My only planned trip for this year is one that requires no passport. Later this year I will be taking a trip for a hashing weekend to Durango, Colorado. In order to avoid a seven-hour car trip from Denver CO or a five-hour car trip from Albuquerque NM, I am looking to fly to Durango. Currently the best fare I can locate is $470 R/T. Ouch! I was going to try and use SkyMiles, but alas Delta doesn't fly to Durango.

Paying For Ricky Gervais?
I am a big fan of Ricky Gervais. I've pimped two of his television series ("The Office", "Extras"), his website, and his podcast.

While have yet to hear the last in his series of podcasts, I have heard that for the second season of podcasts he (or probably more accurately, his company) has decided to go the subscription route. I say "Good Luck" to you, but I can't see myself paying for that content.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - just when I think that things can't get worse, I find out that I am probably wrong (don't ask)
Current Music - none, listening to the MacCast podcast
Website Of The Day - Those wacky people in Louisville are planning a new museum Pplaza. I think the architects who designed this building must have been smoking something funny with Shoobie one of his visits up there.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, are you kidding? did you see that rain? what about my putting my bike on the trainer? yeah, I could have done that I guess.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Stuck On The Connector: I Want Revenge, No I Want More Sleep

2006-02-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first if a new series of articles that I will randomly throw onto Inside The Perimeter. These "Struck On The Connector" articles will be longer, more in-depth articles that will cover one topic -- usually a review of a CD, concert, restaurant, etc.

btw- Today's "normal" entry is below this and is called "Point And Shit!". Just in case you were wondering....

I Want Revenge, No I Want More Sleep
I made my first good decision last night to decide to walk to The EARL. Yes, I know I live close enough to always walk to The EARL, but when the weather is questionable I occasionally drive (oh, how Alpharetta of me). Knowing that a 9pm "doors open" at The EARL means a 9:45pm-10:00pm first band start, I left the house around 9:15pm.

The first thing I noticed upon entering The EARL's music room was the presence of 99x banners. "Ugh", was my first thought. "Am I going to have to suffer through an introduction from ~~Barnes~~ Toucher, Leslie, or Jimmy?" was my second. [paulie note: I was a dedicated 99x listener from 1995-2004, and moved away when I just couldn't stand their limited playlist and inane banter.] Luckily I was spared. Along with the banners I noticed the arrival of the hormone-driven, tattooed, smoking, sluttly-dressed, young girls with their equally body-modded emo boyfriends. When I am sixty and they are forty and complaining about their tattoos and lung disease I am going to smile and tell them all to go fuck themselves. But I digress...

During my trip to the bar to purchase my third Miller High Life I noticed that there were far more "older" people entering the room than I would have imagined. [paulie note: I am forty, so these people were probably younger than me but didn't look it, or were the parents of the aforementioned 99x kiddies.]

At that time I started playing one of my favorite games at The EARL called "I wonder if that guy is in one of tonight's bands."

Finally, the first band Rock Kills Kid, took the stage. They are a five-member band from Los Angeles who provided a seven-song set of decent, guitar and synthesizer driven rock. I wouldn't call their set "groundbreaking", but I enjoyed their sound and considering that they were the opening band I was rather impressed.

She Wants Revenge was next to take the stage. Given their current groundswell of popularity I was a little surprised that there wasn't a billing swap much like the one that occurred when the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Ambulance Ltd tour swung through The EARL last summer. I wanted to take a snapshot of SWR's playlist so that I could document it here, but couldn't get that close to the stage. Because SWR has only one CD out, it suffices to say that all songs they played were from it. SWR's sound was awesome, but never swerved far from that found on their CD. While I enjoy when bands prove that they can recreate the sound caught on their CDs, I also appreciate when they personalize the show for the crowd and take known songs in different directions. The four-man band seemed comfortable and tight on stage. They also looked like they were a bit warm from the heat generated from the small venue, large crowd and copious amounts of cigarettes being smoked. After playing a set appropriately long for a second act, She Wants Revenge the left the stage and at least half of the crowd left the building.

I considered an early jettison from The EARL myself (it was a school night), but while unloading my Miller High Lifes I heard this guy telling other guys just how much better Electric 6 would be, so I decided to stay.

At the start of E6's show I noticed how much fun their lead man, Dick Valentine, was having. This is always pleasing to me. At one point he even asked the crowd "Who came to see She Wants Revenge and are now seeing Electric 6?" From the involved reaction of the crowd during the songs played prior to this question being asked, I would have to say "not many of those left in the room." Because I was completely clueless about E6 prior to this show, and was obviously in the minority amongst this crowd, I had flashbacks to when I saw Lucero last year at The EARL. [paulie note: at least I had heard two of Lucero's songs prior to seeing them in concert.] As much as I wanted to enjoy E6's fist pumping, party-style, rock and roll, I could only last for four songs before I considered it to be "late" (12:05am) and determined that it was time for me to walk home.

And there you have it...
Paulie [eat/ga]

Point And Shit!

2006-02-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

Project Restore Almost Complete
I have Ye Olde Media PC back up and running (psst- I am typing on it right now). While it is far from perfect, it is finally servicable.

To make the update clean I backed up my old iTunes library (the 160kbps stuff) and started anew with the my fresh, ear-pleasing 192kbps collection. Sure, I lost some of those cds that weren't officially in my possession (read "p!rated"), but I have a cleaner conscience and can use my iPod as an inventory device when I am in a record store.

[side note 1: I thought that I owned The Replacements' "Tim" because it was in my iPod and passed on buying it when I was in Clemson. Had I known that it wasn't in my permanent collection I would have snatched it up.]

[side note 2: After I threw down the gauntlet at the RIAA yesterday I plan to keep my nose clean until at least the weekend.]

Who Was At The Sold Out She Wants Revenge Show?
I WAS! Here are some (more dark) pictures to prove it. (Click any of those to take you to more, and more will be added when time permits)

Yeah, my pictures are one again too fucking dark. This is crazy! I was three people deep (and behind some dude with a nearly-shaven head as many of my pictures prove) and my flash fired on every shot. When I previewed these pictures on the lcd they all looked sufficiently bright. I just don't understand. I think it's time to learn some photoshop skills.

One other important lesson I learned last night was that even if it looks like I have plenty of battery life left, I always need to bring a backup battery. My battery died about twenty minutes into the She Wants Revenge set.

Who Let Their Dog Out?
I'm no Super Sleuth but me thinks that someone's dog got out into the neighborhood the other day. This is a picture I took in my carport before going out Monday.

Of Course, If They Had A Triple Roll...
In yesterday's blog entry I bitched about the size of toilet paper rolls. Then yesterday afternoon I read this

MOSS BLUFF, Fla. — A man accused of fatally beating his roommate with a sledgehammer and a claw hammer because there was no toilet paper in their home has been arrested.

Franklin Paul Crow, 56, was charged Monday with homicide in the death of Kenneth Matthews, 58, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Capt. Thomas Bibb said Crow initially denied his involvement, but confessed during questioning.

Crow told investigators that the men were fighting about the toilet paper over the weekend when Matthews pulled out a rifle. Crow said he then began beating Matthews with the sledgehammer and claw hammer, according to an affidavit.

Matthews was beaten so badly he had to be identified through his fingerprints, detectives said.

Crow was being held at the Marion County jail without bond. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.

Perhaps if they were buying triple-sized rolls Kenneth Matthews would be alive today. Then again, somebody would have probably been killed for using the last of the toothpaste, or drinking the last of the milk.

Grasping At Drinking Straws
Yesterday I received my City of Atlanta Water and Sewage bill. With every bill there is also a little newsletter with pertainent information and relatively asburd information on it.

This being "Black History Month" (now why wasn't that changed to "African-American History Month"?) there is a section titled "African-American Water Pioneers." Water Pioneers?

The brain trust at Newsletter Central really put in some overtime for this segment. The best of the entries was as follows

African-American brick masons built many of Atlanta's 100-year-old sewers.

That's the sort of shit I would have written in a book report when I was seven years old (pretty close to the time said masons were laying brick, okay not really). Was this supposed to honor them for being able to build a sewer system that could last 100 years? Shouldn't all other ethnicities feel slighted for not being mentioned as part of the people who built our 100-year-old sewer?

Shame on you City of Atlanta Watershed Mangagement Department for coming up with such a lame "honor." You should have ditched this "obtuse factoid" and given us three more lines about the real African-American Water Pioneer who you mentioned in the newsletter, Dr. Victor Ibeanusi.

As A Matter Of Fact, I Do Have Class
It's a digital photography course starting March 6th at Showcase. Specifically, I have signed up for the class Digital 101 because I have figured out that I will never find time to read the manual and therefore need to have something to force me into learning how to take better pictures. The first couple of classes may bore me, but at this point I think that I should start at square one.

The only downside of my decision is that the class I signed up for is taught on Monday nights so I will have to take a hiatus from Monday night trivia. Oh well, it's not like I couldn't play trivia any other night of the week.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - self-righteous
Current Music - none, listening to Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" podcast
Website Of The Day - Hopefully someday I will be able to take photographs that are as cool as those shown at Daily Dose of Imagery.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, not enough time between work, dinner, and concert.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Datable And Debatable

2006-02-21T08:25:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to the office (assuming you were out yesterday, of course). Go grab a tall cup of coffee and relax. I've got a lot of stuff flowing through this active mind of mine. As promised last week, it's going to be a great (short) week of blogging.

Seriously Seeking Advice
I am facing a life alone and not happy about this. Most people's response would be "Well, you need to ask women out", to which I would reply "Thanks Einstein, why didn't I think of that?"

Here's my dilemma. While I see many women who I consider to be attractive (we'll stick with the population not wearing diamonds, not in the presence of a partner, and at least to my eyes in an age range that I consider to be datable), I have no idea how to meet these women. My problem is that I get no positive feedback when I try to make eye contact, no return "come hither" glance, no smile, and overall no sense that they are thinking "Hey, he's looking at me and I sure would like to meet him." Further muddying my waters is that I am not a salesman and have never possessed skills in the art of "small talk" and cold-calling.

I am at a complete loss. Before you tell me that I need a dog, please stop. Oh and if you tell me that women like "confidence", it's like telling me that employers like "experience." You see in order to gain confidence, you must have success, so it I need success to gain confidence then I am completely fucked in all the wrong ways. Otherwise suitable advice, stern scoldings for being a pussy, and whatnot are welcome either through comments or email.

And Further, This Too Proved It Was Not To Be My Day
I went to Target for four items, two of which were not in stock.

A quick word to the toilet paper producer's of the world. Stop making the fucking rolls bigger! It's bad enough that I can no longer find packages containing fewer than eight rolls, but your goddamn triple size roll will simply not fit into my 1957 toilet paper dispenser. I know that Americans fifty years ago had much smaller asses (on average), but I don't need a roll of toilet paper that will disintegrate before I have the opportunity to finish dispensing it.

The two items I sought but could not buy were a label maker (I like neatly-printed labels -- sometimes I'm a little too anal retentive for my own good) and the new Cat Power cd, "The Greatest."

What I found out while in the store was that the label maker had been on sale last week (for 2/3rds of its original price) so it was sold out, and the Cat Power cd was currently on sale for $9, so it too was sold out.

If You Price It Right, They Will Buy
While scouring the shelves for the Cat Power cd, because sometimes they get mis-shelved or hidden by people so that they can be purchased later, I saw this endcap.

Apparently, if you price new cds reasonably, let's say $8.99, people will buy the cd instead of downloading it or stealing it. Your rebuttal RIAA?

And Of Course It's Tuesday
Wouldn't want to skip a weekly feature, would I?

This week there are a couple of different suggestions I could make.

You say you want to be on the cutting edge of this year's Greatest Band of All-Time (so says many of the critics)? You obviously need to rush out and purchase the Arctic Monkeys' "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". Even the title screams "edgy."

You say you want to dig deeper into a band that has released but one cd to date? Well, my friend you obviously want to invest your music dollars into Maximo Park's "Missing Songs". I own Maximo Park's other cd and while I enjoy it, I can't see myself buying this one.

None of those working for you? Want to see the one cd that I will be buying? Okay, I'll probably also buy the Arctic Monkeys, but I digress. I'll be buying Ray Davies' cd "Other People's Lives". Kidding! I will be buying Elbow's "Leaders Of The Free World". Btw- This is yet another release which is already out in the UK. When will these staggered releases end? And further, according to Elbow's website this cd may have already been release in the US on February 3rd; either they are wrong or Metacritic is wrong. I guess pointing fingers as to whose information was wrong is a moot point and not really worth debating.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - confused
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26, playing Clap Your Hands Say Yeah -- "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood"
Website Of The Day - If you understand how Digg works, then you'll have no problem understanding how to use Video Bomb works. As the name suggests it's a site where you can finds videos that are "Da Bomb."

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - running, very slow running for 5.5 miles (Streching followed. The knee?, Not too shabby, thanksforasking.)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Slow Start To A Rainy Monday

2006-02-20T10:05:00.000-05:00

And I am not at work! But I'm here for you anyway. I am amazed how quickly a "long" weekend can pass.

As I sit here typing this Atlanta's favorite up-and-coming Media Star Andisheh Nouraee has entered the coffee shop.

Do They Get 1500 Free Hours Of AOL With These?
On Friday I saw my first medal ceremony from this year's Winter Olympic Games (not interested in the Olympics any longer). My first reaction was "Why is that guy wearing one of those AOL cds around his neck?" and then I realized that it was one of these medals.

Butt. Fucking. Ugly.

On Sunday I sat down to finally catch some HD coverage on my tv, only to find out that NBC was showing the Daytona 500 at that time. Meh, who needs the Olympics.

Bloggers In Da Hood
On Friday night I met up with the APWBWGTTD at Graveyard Tavern. One big long table of happy drinkers, it was. I spent the majority of the evening talking to those in closest proximity, before splitting from the group late-night as they were heading to Mary's (I just wasn't in the mood to go to Mary's). Instead I ran into my hashing friends Chad and Larry who were there with others to throw darts. After one game of darts I was sufficiently drunk and headed home for the evening.

Stop Your Whining!
For all of you who are kicking yourself for not getting a ticket for tomorrow night's She Wants Revenge show at The EARL, I'm here for you.

While scouring the local venues for upcoming shows, I have found that She Wants Revenge is scheduled to play The Loft on March 28th. Interested? Go buy tickets as soon as they become available. The Earl sold out, I would assume that The Loft will as well.

As always I am here to save your bacon. Mmmm baconnnnn.

The Three Rules Of Owning A Computer

Back Up
Back Up
Back Up

Now before you guess that I am ready to jump off a bridge because I've lost all of my data, fear not all is good. I am still in the process of getting my old desktop back to its former glory and am amazed how many programs I use, but never have kept the installers. Luckily the biggest of the "hard to find items", Free CD-DA Extractor v4.8, was finally located and installed successfully. And after scanning the drive to try and make sure that no spyware/adware joined it on my system, I cranked it up to rip my latest purchase the Modern Skirts' "Catalogue of Generous Men." A review of this release will follow later in the week.

Mama Didn't Raise No Fool
At least not a complete fool. I've learned the forty-degree weather and trudging through swamps and/or creeks do not make me a happy man. Instead, I took the road most travelled and skipped hashing this weekend.

I would have thought this would mean I would get more of my indoor activities done, you know, insulation, reading of camera books, cleaning, laundry, whatnot, but alas sleeping won out (again!) and the weekend became mostly unproductive.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - bleh
Current Music - Whatever Blues is playing in the coffee shop.
Website Of The Day - PodBop looks pretty cool for hearing music coming to your town. I suggest you try it out.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, nothing, and more nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

The Five W's

2006-02-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am told that in Journalism School you are taught to consider the five W's. Today I will focus on this technique.

Who Are You?
Well, as you learned yesterday I am not Batman.

For those of you who don't know me in real life...

My name is Paul(ie) and I am a 486 month old single male who has yet to figure out the Meaning of Life (although I have seen the movie). I believe that I have proven that the Meaning of Life is not located at the bottom of a pint glass, but will keep looking there everytime a beer is placed in front of me.

I have been an East Atlanta resident for the past seven years (wow, how time flies) and therefore feel qualified to sign all of these posts as "Paulie [eatl/ga]".

I hash therefore I am. My hash name is Wee Little Bit, you may draw you own conclusions as to why I am named this.

I have a passion for good food, alternative music (especially live), and beer. I am trying to rekindle passions for computer programming and photography.

What's In A Name?
On Monday night at Johnny's Pizza we had the following question

What is a female donkey called?

Being my normal smart-assed self I said a "Jane Ass" (although in hindsight a "Jill Ass" would be a better companion for a "Jack Ass"). It turns out that the correct answer is a "Jennet."

This started me wondering why we have different names for the male and female of some animal species.

It also reminded me of an old joke

Q: What do you call a female peacock?
A: A peacunt.

Thank You! I'll be here all weekend...

When Will I Be Seeing Live Music Again?
Well, if you are reading this via my _non Award-Winning Website www.InsideThePerimeter.com then you can quickly look under "LISTENING SKILLS REQUIRED" and see that my next scheduled appearance is the She Wants Revenge (fuck, I just realized that I forgot to record Letterman last night!) show at The EARL on Tuesday night. [UPDATE @9:35am] This just in, that show has sold out. Don't cry to me, I warned you months ago!

I openly take suggestions for other shows. If you have an insider's tip, password, or pre-sale code for an upcoming show I am always willing to listen.

Where Is Paulie Drinking This Weekend?
Tonight, the Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink" will be gathering at the Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta. Um, I can walk there (and home) so it will be the place to be for me this eve.

As for the rest of the weekend it's all up in the air. For the first time in years (and maybe ever) I have paid day off on Monday for Presidents' Day so I might actually be out Sunday night as well. Just call me crazy.

Why Have I Subjected You To This?
Because I like you. Sorry, today I am feeling a bit uninspired and not very creative. I guarantee a far superior product starting next week or you subscription fees will be refunded. :D

If you have questions, or comments please either comment here or send me an email (you can find my preferred address over there under "HOLLA AT ME").

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - unispired. fat. tired. ready to party. wishing the weather was like yesterday.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 26 playing Radiohead -- "Paranoid Android"
Website Of The Day - Get all the information you've ever wanted to know about donkeys at The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, giving my knee some time to heal [update: I don't think it's working]

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Memories, Like The Corners Of My Mind

2006-02-16T10:35:00.000-05:00

I'm Batman!
A few years ago while working a trade show in Las Vegas I had the opportunity to meet the Real Batman, Adam West.

Having seen every episode of Batman as a child and being constantly amused by the odd places that Adam West's voice-overs appear, I was quite pleased to be able to get his autograph.

I had forgotten about having Adam West's autograph until I rediscovered the photo while cleaning my basement for my Super Bowl party.

I Can Rebuild It; I Can Make It Better Than It Was Before
The last few nights have been spent rebuilding my "media center" pc. I have owned this pc for four years (so it's really just a desktop pc) and had forgotten just how many programs I had loaded on it during that time period.

For instance...

In order to scan my photo of Adam West I needed to re-install my scanner. Well, that required me to download the drivers for the scanner from Canon. Canon provided installation directions for the driver in for form of a PDF. Since I had yet to reload a PDF reader onto the box I had to go to Adobe's website to download and install a reader.

It's going to be a slow process getting this pc back to 100% usefulness, but I just have to keep reminding myself that replacing the old hard drive in order to get a clean install of Windows is worth the pain.

Boy Meets Bar, Boy Sits At Bar, Boy Gets Fat
At one point in my life I was a workout fanatic. I went years in which I exercised six days a week, sometimes twice in one day. My biggest fear back then was getting injured. Being injured this week reminds me why. Last night I entered George's with no hopes of getting in a run prior to drinking beer and eating dinner. To say I am dissatisfied with my life right now is an understatement.

Although Tonight I Will Eat, Drink And Be Merry
Thursday night dinner club is at Casa de Paulie tonight. Since we are nearing(?) Mardi Gras (which will not be nearly what it used to be thanks to Katrina) I have decided to make crockpot Jambalaya (which will not be nearly as good as my normal Jambalaya). "Why", you ask? "Time", I answer. I woke up early enough this morning to chop vegetables for a spiced up (because I accidentally added too much Cajun seasoning) version of my crockpot Jambalaya, in addition to a (crockpotted) spicy vegetarian black bean "chili" (in my book it is not real chili unless it has meat). Both dishes will be much better than "edible" and I will serve up enough red wine to ensure that.

Until we meet tomorrow my friends...
Same Bat Time (at least back to my normal Bat Time)
Same Bat Channel

btw- Anyone know who gets voted off on Survivor tonight? I'd sure like to load up some good music onto Stacy's iPod... :)

[UPDATE @ noon] I just heard that She Wants Revenge will perform on Letterman tonight. So if you are still on the fence on whether or not to catch their show next Tuesday at The EARL, give it a watch.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - late, and ready to go home already
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 26 playing Sufjan Stevens -- "The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" (I know that refers to Superman, but it really is playing on Sirius right now)
Website Of The Day - Did you know that Adam West has his own website? He does, and it can be found at www.AdamWest.com

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing, giving my knee some time to heal

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Short Of Time

2006-02-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

This will be real brief today. Much like the people who waited until yesterday to buy their Valentine's cards from Target, I am short of time this morning. I have a four-hour training session in a few minutes. After that, I will attempt to catch up on the other work I have slated for today.

Introducing: Public Enemy #1
Born just four days after I was, in a city (Manhattan) less than an hour's drive away from me, Jeremy Piven (pictured below) has become my new Public Enemy #1.

(picture changed because site hosting original picture was flaky)

Why the hate you ask? I think it has something to do that he is essentially the same exact age as me, is far better looking, successful, constantly considered to be one of the most fashionable men in Hollywood, he can play the drums and he's been in at least six movies with my former alter-ego John Cusack.

Discuss...

Just One More Thing
HA! HA! I just opened the fortune cookie I got at lunch yesterday. It reads "Your happy heart brings joy and peace where there is none." Perhaps I should have read it before I wrote today's entry. :D

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - rushed
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 26 playing Franz Ferdinand -- "Michael" (although it would have been funnier if I had been listening to Pearl Jam's "Jeremy".)
Website Of The Day - Now that I have taken up less time than I normally would, go waste that time over at YouTube watching videos. Do it soon while it's still "independent and cool" (read "before they get bought up by Viacom").

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

One Is The Loneliest Number

2006-02-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

Fact: I have been alone seventeen of the last twenty Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day makes me feel like a Jew on Christmas.

However, This will not be a "poor pity me" entry. Fuck. That.

Seeing Red, Or Then Again No
I had intended on stopping into Joe's to get some morning coffee and to say hello to Ellen (a redhead). However, because of a 7am meeting I had to leave my house earlier than they would have been open.

No More Hidden Tracks!
Yesterday I popped the new She Wants Revenge cd into my car's cd player. Because I still don't have my media pc 100% ready I decided not to wait until I ripped the cd to mp3 and play it through the iPod.

I enjoyed the disc thoroughly. Their music is mostly beat driven with a disctinct vocal (some may not consider it "singing"). It reminds me a bit of Depeche Mode with a smidgeon of old school Davie Bowie thrown in. I will admit that after a while the sound becomes a bit repetitive. What really pissed me off is the presence of multiple one-second blank tracks (I don't know how many exist yet, I popped the cd out after track fifty). Come on folks, if I wanted a minute-plus of silence I would turn down the volume; and this "clever" technique has been done at least twice -- Tool's "Undertow" and Nine Inch Nails' "Broken"). Stop it already!

So Close, Yet So Far Away
Last night's trivia was played at Johnny's Pizza again. After a few hits and near misses we were only one point out of first place going into the final question. While we managed to get the final question correctly the team ahead of us also did, so we finished in second place.

I Guess CDs Make Bad Valentine's Gifts?
The three new releases listed on Metacritic's New Release List are all American releases of discs already available in the UK.

Today's selections are Babyshambles' "Down In Albion", Sing-Sing's "Sing Sing And I", and The Subways' self-titled release. Frankly, I may have heard one song from The Subways, but know nothing of the other two. In this instance, I say buy flowers and chocolates instead.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - like one hand clapping
Current Music - none, listening to the "KFI the Tech Guy" podcast
Website Of The Day - My friend Sarah sent me this link; be forewarned that it had audio. I t's a video produced by the Organic Consumers Association. Apparently those flowers and chocolates should be organically produced.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Parenthetically Yours

2006-02-13T09:20:00.000-05:00

The Knights Who Say Knee (injury)
You may have seen Saturday's post in which I stated that I was tired of it all and ready to rededicate myself to losing weight. Eventhough the weekend's temperatures were to get no higher than forty-five, that was no excuse for not going out for exercise.

On Saturday I went out and ran the Atlanta hash. On Sunday morning I woke up to feel a pain in my right knee. It was the same sort of knee pain that I felt six years ago after completing my first marathon, and the same pain that started the downward spiral of my running ability. Just to make sure that I wasn't being a hypochondriac, I went out for a run on Sunday to see how it would feel. Diagnosis: Iliotibial Band Syndrome, which means pain.

click here for some knee diagrams

Dial 'L' For Lame (or 'S' for Sleep)
One of the problems I have with hashing is the running and the drinking can often wipe me out. Saturday was no exception to this rule. I had planned (to the point of buying a ticket) to go to Eyedrum to see Andrew Bird. Unfortunately, when I put my head upon the couch pillow when I returned home from a long, cold day of hashing I fell asleep immediately. When I awoke at 9:15pm I knew that there was no way that I wanted to shower and then rush out the door (into the freezing cold) to attend the show. It was a difficult decision, but one I only struggled with for as long as it took me to move from the couch to my bed where I covered up for a long night's sleep.

I've noticed a dramatic increase in my sleeping lately. I keep blaming the cold weather because I am keeping the house cool and therefore more inclined to lay down to get under covers. Unlike a lot of people, I don't like sleeping; I think it is a waste of life (my two cents).

Mi Barrio (es su barrio?)
At the conclusion of Sunday's run my friends Melissa, Betsy and I decided we needed some lunch and an a adult beverage (or two). Saturday night Betsy had eaten at a restaurant named Mi Barrio (Access Atlanta review) and was jonesin' for another fix. I was definitely up for it since I have intended to go there since it first opened (about two years ago).

Sunday's special at Mi Barrio is Menudo (no, not that Menudo). Not being a fan of tripe (cow intestine) I decided to pass on the menudo and order the carne asada instead. The meat was served with corn tortillas (One of those plastic serving dishes with a lid was put on the table. Perhaps I ate Melissa's as well?) and a healthy serving of refried beans, yellow rice and a small salad topped with fresh avocado. Combining the meal with a couple of Negra Modelos and a supply of chips, salsa and sliced catcus, I could ask for no more (no mas?). I will certainly be returning soon myself.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - disturbed
Current Music - none, listening to the Bands Under The Radar podcast
Website Of The Day - Tax preparation time is upon us. Swing on over to the Library of Congress website and see how some of your hard-earned tax dollars are spent.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - hashing Saturday, 40 minutes running Sunday, pain Sunday night
Weekly Weigh-In - skipped because it's pointless right now
Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

D-Day

2006-02-11T07:29:00.000-05:00

'D' Is For Diet
Man this sucks, today I am dedicating myself to lose weight. It is going to be painful, but in the end I will be happier.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - depressed
Current Music - none, listening to growl of my empty stomach
Website Of The Day - I don't have the strength to find one. :)

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Ketchin' Up

2006-02-10T08:19:00.000-05:00

I'm Freezing, But Saving Money
Thanks to a willingness to freeze even more and a far milder January, my heating bill dropped eighty dollars (aka 1/5th of the price of the XBOX 360 I didn't buy). My bill is still too high for my liking, but any colder and I will be waking up with icicles hanging from my nose.

Cornbread, Earl And Me
That was the title of the first book that I read containing curse words, but it also is a relevant to my life today.

This morning I arrived to find a piece of cornbread on my desk left for me by one of my coworkers. I know that this person was not the culprit in last week's Great Cornbread Robbery, but I thought it was a nice gesture... and delicious.

Last night I was introduced to a show that I knew that I should have been watching all along. The show was My Name Is Earl. Sure, it's low-brow humor, but then again I like low-brow humor.

The Survivor game takes a twist. Last night we watched the four tribes become two, but I'm talking about my game. If you remember from last week, I lost a bet with my friend Stacy and I will have to put *NSYNC onto my iPod. She and I have decided to have a running bet every week. When we find out the tribe which will have to go to tribal council we each pick a person who we think will be ousted. If one of us is correct we get to pick music to put on to the other's iPod. Seriously, I'm really just doing this to improve her musical tastes.

Where Have All The Tree Huggers Gone?
(no I am not referring to the fact that I have not been volunteering with Trees Atlanta like I used to)

Yesterday I drank a refreshing Atlanta-based carbonated beverage while I was up at Clemson University. When I was done I asked the girl working the desk where the recycling bin was, she smiled and said that they didn't have one. WTF? A college campus without a recycling program? I carried the can around for a few minutes and after not finding a recycling bin I gave up and put into a trash can. Holy shit times have changed.

At Least The Record Stores Haven't Changed
Once my appointed tasks at the university were completed yesterday I sought out the local cd store. Black Dog Music was my target. Any music store that I enter and hear Neutral Milk Hotel playing on their speakers is alright by me. While I didn't find any used cds to my liking, I picked up a copy of the new She Wants Revenge disc, and was upsold to the limited edition dvd-included Belle & Sebastian release. That's right ladies, I am sensitive and willing to open the wallet to spend a few extra bucks...

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - since I've been out of the office and today is Friday it feels like a one-day work week for me!
Current Music - none, listening to Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code" podcast from Wednesday
Website Of The Day - Can't get enough of that weird news you say? Well, swing buy Drew Curtis' Fark and see what's cooking today.

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I've picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as "blogged."

Exercise (b)Log - sadly nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]