Apartment D

Name This Movie

2010-04-27T19:23:00.002-04:00

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Coolest thing ever!

2010-04-21T13:00:00.001-04:00

I could watch this forever…

How to Report the News

2010-01-30T11:46:00.004-05:00

Why do furniture stores have the best commercials?

2009-05-17T09:44:00.003-04:00

At the Reeedddd Houuussseee!

iPhone

2009-04-09T18:38:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post from my new iPhone. It's surprisingly easy to type on the touchscreen. Gotta run!

Awesome!

2008-12-15T18:02:00.002-05:00

A Christmas idea for those of you who have a special feline friend.

Here...

Asheville, NC

2008-08-11T20:01:00.001-04:00

Maddux already posted a nice write-up of our trip to Asheville, so I won't go into too much detail here.

The main reason for this post is to provide a link to pictures from our trip. Here...

We did have a great time, even though only five of us were able to attend this year. Asheville definitely had more going for it than I expected. I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised, after all, it is a college town.

If everything goes as planned, I'll be taking a few exciting trips next year as well. Here's a list of the possibilities...

Bristol, U.K. (and other parts of Europe)
Guyancourt, France (maybe, or in combination with the Bristol trip)
Las Vegas, NV

It's the "formative years" that count!

2008-07-31T17:29:00.001-04:00

July is the month that I get to renew my licenses plates in the great state of Indiana. For the past few years, I've been sporting the environmental plate. However, this year I decided to go with something different. I wasn't sure what to get. I had considered the arts plate, but then something caught my eye...

Is that a young Lincoln with an axe tossed casually over his shoulder? It is! And guess what? You can get it on your licenses plate! See, here. How badass is that? In you face Kentucky and Illinois! We celebrate the formative years around these parts.

It's only a matter of days before I can fasten this baby to Protege!

It's a start, but there's a long road ahead.

2008-07-24T21:56:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of this summer, I started growing my Johnny Depp facial hair again. At some point, I decided it would be awesome to have a handlebar mustache.

I really have no idea what I'm doing, and there are surprisingly (or not) few resources on the interwebs that discuss this topic. I realize that at some point I will need to regularly use mustache wax, and I need to comb it to get the hair going in the right direction. Other than that, I'm just winging it. Some guy online said that he had been growing his for a year and a half! I'm not sure I have that dedication, but I'd say things are promising. Tonight I tried using a little wax to form some points. I was pleasantly surprised at the results. I believe I'll fix it up for work tomorrow.

On a side note, I'd like to thank whoever took this beautiful picture with my camera. A picture really can say a thousand words...

Three links. Hours of fun.

2008-07-07T21:34:00.002-04:00

OK, so maybe not hours, but definitely tens of minutes worth of enjoyment.

Link #1:

Wizard World Chicago 2008

As promised to some of you, above is the link to the pictures we took at this years Wizard World Chicago. They're spectacular!

Link #2:

MANJOHN!

I created a MySpace page for our band. I figure it's the easiest way to get our five original songs to you guys and gals. Feel free to download them, rate them, and/or share them with your friends and neighbors.

Link #3:

Those of you who are in the cool kids club, and have access to the GCPA web site, can download the five songs featured above, plus a remix version of each of those songs.

Belated Spring Cleaning

2008-06-18T21:49:00.001-04:00

My apartment was a disaster. I own entirely too much crap. Anyway, I decided to start cleaning things up a bit. The true motivation coming from the fact that I have some friends stopping over this weekend, and I was freaking out about how dirty everything was.

Throughout this cleaning process (I've spread it over a few days), I've discovered something. I feel better. By simply picking up all the crap laying around on the floor, on other things, on top of things on other things, it has improved my mood considerably. This is a nice little bonus. Will it last? I doubt it. I have a tendency to let things pile up. However, the hard part is almost over. It shouldn't be too difficult to keep things tidy once the major clean up is complete.

So, moral of the story, a clean house is the path to a clear mind. Or, whatever. I'm sure there's some 10,000 year old saying that basically says the same thing.

Now, if I could just get my ass in shape, we might be getting somewhere...

If wishes were whiskers...

2008-06-13T23:36:00.001-04:00

Let me preface this post with an apology. The content of this post may not be centered on a particular topic, and it may not even "stay the course" with regard to subject matter. For that, I am sorry.

You know a band I've never seen live? The Decemberists. Why hasn't this been an option?

So, I've been doing some math lately. Some cost of living expenses, if you will. Should I move? If so, where? Find a home to rent in Greensburg. Get a place in Indy. Can I afford to buy? Do I want to buy? If I did live in Indy, could I afford to drive to Greensburg everyday to go to work? I suppose, technically speaking, the answer to all of these question is ultimately yes. Does this mean that any of these options would be a wise decision? I don't know. This really doesn't help at all.

Somehow, tonight, this all led me to the following question: What's the true cost of living? Sure, it's a cheesy question. I'm not even entirely sure what it is asking. I don't think it has anything to do with money, that's for sure. Can I even comprehend such a question? I guess in a way, I'm asking, how does one put a price on happiness? Have you ever thought about what truly makes you happy? I don't think I have. Is this weird? How have I lived this long of my life without considering this basic question? Why am I an engineer? Why do I live in Greensburg? Honestly, I don't have an answer, and I'm not sure I'm OK with this anymore. Is what I'm doing now what I want to be doing for the rest of my life?

OK, so admittedly, some of this might have to do with the numerous beers I've ingested this evening. But these things have been boiling under the surface for a while now. A group of us went out for drinks after work today to celebrate the departure of one of our own. Even though it was a sad occasion, we had a great time. Matt is off to St. Louis. And why not, he's got friends there. And, as he put's it, "I'm young, and I'm single, so why not?"

It was great talking to the guys (and girls) that I haven't seen as much of lately. It was easy to get back into the swing of things. Of course, these relationships were built from the five, almost six, years I worked with these people.

Alright. Just as I feared. This post is a complete mess. This post is long. This post should not have been posted. But I took the time to write it, so why not?

Why not?

Thursday, the day before Friday.

2008-06-12T22:33:00.002-04:00

I came across a pretty cool gift idea the other day. It's a USB flash drive that uses a facsimile of an old cassette tape for a case. The idea is that you make a mix-tape with it. You can check it out here. It even includes a liner notes area for the track list and what-have-you.

This web site linked to another one (here) that was just a collection of high resolution photographs of various old cassette tapes. I spent a while looking through them finding the various ones I used when I was younger. See the sweet example at the top of the post...

Here's a few interesting dates regarding various music formats. All this information was collected through Wikipedia, so, whatever.

Vinyl Records - 1888
8-track Tapes - 1963
Cassette Tapes - 1964
Compact Discs - 1982
Mini-discs - 1992
First Commercially Available MP3 Player - 1997
Best Commercially Available MP3 Player (iPod) - 2001

My something is here!

2008-06-10T22:05:00.001-04:00

Some of you may remember a post I made a little while ago about a mystery gift. Well, it finally arrived.

No, not the camera or the T-shirt. It's the sunglasses! They are too cool. They even have padding around your eyes. I suppose they're intended for motorcycle riding. I don't have one thanks to the Sturgis incident. I guess I'll just keep them in my car to be used by whomever. My sunglasses are prescription. I can't lose them.

You can see these rad sunglasses in more detail here and here.

Let's brighten things up a little.

2008-05-17T11:49:00.001-04:00

For some reason this morning (as I too enjoy some coffee), I decided that my blog's layout was too dark. So for now, here's the new version. I already like it better. Could this be a sign of the return of positive Mike? Only time will tell...

I ran across the picture below and thought it would be a great PR photo for Eric Clapton Explosion (or Stevie Ray John) [or Better Than Stillabower]. It features our drummer and vocalist/guitarist. I am not featured. I attempt to play bass.

Feel free to suggest your own band names in the comments.

Yesterday, I bought myself a gift...

2008-05-16T18:09:00.001-04:00

I'd love to be able to tell you what it is, but I can't.

Click on the picture above to find out more.

Stay tuned! In a week I'll let you know what I received.

Indy's Real Beer Festival?

2008-05-14T22:26:00.002-04:00

A few months ago, a few of you ventured out to the ~~shitty~~ less than desirable AleFest (here & here). I was not able to attend this event, but it seems all is not lost.

On July 19, there is an Indiana Microbrewers Festival (click the picture above for more info) at Opti Park in Broad Ripple. I think this one will be ~~slightly~~ a crap-load better than the one at the Murat. I base this assumption on one item listed on the web page. "Cask Conditioned table. Up to 16 firkins served on gravity." Most of you already know this, but I love cask beers. They are the best.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to talk some of you into going to this. I have a good feeling about this one.

Mike

Windows Live Writer

2008-05-08T23:07:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone!

This post serves two purposes. First, I'm trying out Windows Live Writer as a blogging tool. Secondly, I wanted to post a picture of my certified earthquake-proof bike stand.

I've been occasionally riding the thing to work. It's fun, and I need the exercise. However, if I ever do move to Indy, there won't be much more of that.

I suppose this post is also an attempt to start back up on the blogging routine. So stay tuned while I try and decide how often to distract you with mundane posts and whatnot.

Bop, out!

Anyone want to buy me a gift?

2008-03-05T19:16:00.004-05:00

I ran across this today. I can't imagine how incredible it would be to own. So, if you have a few hundred thousand dollars laying around, think of me.

It's ALIVE!!!

2007-12-22T20:24:00.000-05:00

This video blew my mind.
As soon as I wathced it, I just knew Mortimer would want to see it.

Enjoy...

Suburban Outfitters

2007-12-06T22:42:00.000-05:00

Bop here... (not sure who else you thought it would be.)

Looks like Andy and Elizabeth aren't the only ones moving in February. I will officially start my new job on February 1st. I'm pretty excited. For those of you that don't know, I'll be leaving my current position of five years (almost six by then) to go to the test lab. Testing FTW!

Also, as promised, a depressing look at my junior high scum-bag beard.

Grow, damn you, grow!

More rock than a dadrock festival.

2007-11-30T21:17:00.000-05:00

What's up?

I bought the game Rock Band for the PS3 not too long ago. It's pretty awesome. For those of you familiar with the Guitar Hero series of games, it's pretty similar. However, you get a microphone, a guitar, and a small drum set to play on. I can't wait to have some of you guys over to rock out!

Looks like he's tryin' to get in,
Bop

Working is fun.

2007-11-17T22:38:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah.

Another 12 hour day on a Saturday. Yea work! At least I don't have to go in tomorrow. Hopefully I won't have to work any over our Thanksgiving break either, but we'll see.

Anyway, here's the real reason you stopped in today. This was taken on day four of the one month shave-free marathon. You can already see that I'm in trouble. The longer it gets, the more obvious there are places where hair still refuses to grow.

So it goes.

A few updates...

2007-11-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to make sure everyone noticed the new links added to the Friend's Blogs list. They're all great places to visit. And just in case you don't speak l33t, ch6rmand3r = f|R3 P0k3Mon means charmander = fire pokemon. Slammin' Sam is a certified pokemon master... I've seen his business card.

Also, if you visit "My other blog is a future blog", feel free to vote for Indy in their poll for which city they should move to in February.

No other big news at the moment, other than the weird contest that really isn't a contest that a few of us at work entered into. I guess it's actually more of an agreement. Any way, we're not shaving until December 12. I'm debating on whether to post pictures to show the progress. Needless to say, I don't have high hopes for the fullness of said hair. We'll see how it goes.

2007-10-31T23:04:00.000-04:00

BOO!

Watching a movie is hard.

2007-09-03T21:35:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the next installment of the "things that are hard" series.

Nine out of ten douchebag teens agree that the best place to text your buddies is in the theater during a movie.

Why would you pay $6.50 to go see a movie, if you spend approximately 18% of the time using your cell phone. I'm trying to enjoy the movie I just paid to see, but I'm forced to try and ignore the fact that every five or ten minutes Shobala's nose is jamming me right in the face. For those of you who don't know, that means that the light from the cell phone is really freakin' bright in a dark theater.

I hate cell phones. I hate them for many reasons. I hate that people don't turn their ringer off in a restaurant. I hate when people use those damn headsets any place other than their car. I hate that people don't get upset when other people use their phone like an idiot.

On a side not, it was very challenging to write this without the use or dirty/curse/swear/bad words. I have a general idea of the audience that reads this, but I try not to offend. On the other hand, not using these words is somewhat misrepresentative of myself. Feel free to comment on whether I should censor myself or not. My heart says, "F@&! it."

Tonight's rant brought to you by the movie, Halloween. Directed by Rob Zombie. It was good. 3 out of 5 stars. Definitely gorier than the original, and better than Zombie's last two efforts; House of a Thousand Corpses and The Devils Rejects. I really have no idea if the previous punctuation makes any sense.

Time to learn about databases...

Driving is hard.

2007-09-03T00:18:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if you guys live in the city like I do, but I'll try to explain the situation so that anyone can understand. You see, on one of our major roads, we have what is known as a "center turn lane". This marvel of civil engineering genius is intended to allow traffic to flow more smoothly in areas where vehicles are constantly entering and leaving the road in both directions. The idea is that there are three lanes of traffic on the road. The two outside lanes are used for your normal everyday driving. Just like a typical two-lane road! The third lane, the middle one, is used to make left hand turns, from either direction! The concept is that the people making left-hand turns will pull into the middle lane and await an opening in the oncoming traffic in order to make the turn. This maneuver makes everyone behind the person attempting a left-hand turn very happy because they are not required to wait, along with the person turning, for an opening to present itself.

So, the next time you notice your on a road that is equipped with a center turn lane, and you need to make a left-hand turn, feel free to pull right in there. It makes the driving experience much better for everyone. Now, I realize that not everyone has access to this article, so get out there and spread the word. We need to end center turn lane ignorance (CTLI) today!

The more you know...

And now a message from our sponsors.

2007-07-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

I'm having a bit of trouble with this posting everyday business, but I haven't given up yet.

This evening, a friend of mine, Andy, gave me an apartment warming gift. It was a Nerf basketball goal. You know, the kind you hang on your door. Anyway, I just wanted to say that it rocks. I had one for a little while at the house I previously rented, but there was a ceiling fan in the way. In my new place, I have a vaulted ceiling that allows you to shoot naturally. I have a feeling I will be using this often. The lamp may suffer for it, but so it goes.

Alright, I know this wasn't much, but I'm tired. I'll try to be more diligent with my posts in the future.

The Jim Bob Self bottle opener.

2007-07-14T20:19:00.001-04:00

The Jim Bob Self bottle opener.

World of Warcraft

2007-07-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

Let's get this out of the way.

I play World of Warcraft. Most of you reading this already know that. But just in case some of you don't, here's the information you need. I play on the Zul'jin server. Below is a list of all my characters, with links to the armory page about them. If you are on this server, feel free to look me up in game.

Aynna
Krellbourne
Havana
Narmi
Fonce
Mangan
Hidef
Grenzer

This is a test.

2007-07-11T22:20:00.001-04:00

This is a test.

An evening out.

2007-07-11T21:50:00.000-04:00

I went to the Wolf tonight and saw Ratatouille. And while this was an excellent film, it is not the topic of my post this evening.

I saw tonight's movie by myself. This is not the first movie I've seen alone, and I doubt it will be my last. I remember it being hard to convince myself to go the first time. It just seemed too weird. It's definitely something that a lot of people have a hard time doing. I've talked to numerous people that wouldn't, or even couldn't, go to the theater by themselves. I no longer have a problem going. In fact, there's a different feel altogether when seeing a movie by yourself. To me, it's more intimate. It can feel like I'm the only one there, regardless of how crowded it is. Of course, going with friends or a loved one is great too. I recommend going by yourself sometime. It's an experience.

On a side note, Spoon has a new album out. It's called "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". I've only listened to the first half of the album so far, and I have nothing but good things to say. Here's what Pitchfork has to say about it. Do yourself a favor and check out the latest offering by Britt Daniel and company. And, hey, if I like these guys this much, they must be good. After all, they are from Texas.

"Do You Believe In Miracles?"

2007-07-09T20:01:00.000-04:00

I was two years old on February 22, 1980.

As you may expect, I don't really remember too much. I don't remember the Iran hostage situation, or the heat of the cold war. I certainly don't remember the Lake Placid Olympic games. However, it amazes me how emotionally involved I became while watching "Do You Believe In Miracles: The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team".

I'm talking literal chills while watching this thing. Which, sort of baffles me. First off, like I said, I was two when this went down. It means nothing to me in terms of actual memory. Secondly, I'm not really even a hockey fan. Hell, I'm not a real die-hard sports fan. Yet there's something about that event that really strikes an emotional chord.

I'm sure that some of it has to do with the production of the piece. The dramatic music, the background story, the editing, the interviews, they all add something, but that can't be all. I know it's not that I'm a sucker for a human interest story. I generally hate those things.

Maybe it really is that I'm seeing a "miracle" take place. An event that will most likely never be repeated in my lifetime. An immense showing of national pride. My country united against its enemy, even if it was represented by a hockey game. Or, maybe that's not it at all. Maybe I'll never know why certain events move me in unexplainable ways. Maybe it's enough to just sit back and enjoy then when they occur.

More than meets the eye!

2007-07-08T01:26:00.001-04:00

I saw Transformers tonight at the Wolf. It. Was. Awesome! Sure it's cheesy, but that's how the cartoon was. I felt they did an excellent job capturing the things I loved about the cartoon.

The first time I heard that wonderful transformation sound, I couldn't get the grin off my face. It's also very cool that the movie open with that great Optimus Prime voice; just like I remembered it! Obviously the showdown at the end was freaking great, but I really loved the car chase / fight between Bumblebee and Barricade.

Shia LaBeouf. Seriously, this role could have been crap. It could have been uninteresting. It was neither. I think he did a great job. He was funny, he played it straight, and he made it believable. I really enjoyed his performance, and I look forward to seeing him in a wider variety of roles.

Megan Fox. Umm, where was I? Oh yeah, umm, did she have any lines? Here, maybe this will help...

Finally, on a technical side, the CGI was unbelievable. I didn't even think about it until after the movie was even finished. It in no way whatsoever comes across as "CGI". It's so good, you don't even notice it.

I totally recommend seeing this movie. If you were a fan of the cartoon growing up, you won't be disappointed. I give it a four out of five.

A Post A Day...

2007-07-08T01:16:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems posting once a day is harder than I imagined. Although, in my defense, Bork was in town this weekend. I was distracted.

Another Indianapolis fireworks display...

This makes my second year in a row for watching the downtown fireworks display. And I have to say, once you've seen large scale fireworks once, you've seen large scale fireworks a thousand times. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the show, but it wasn't spectacular. The time I watched the fire works from the Bank One building, above where they were launching them, that was awesome.

I guess what I'm saying is that the environment, or atmosphere, in which you watch the show is just as important as the show itself. This year we sat directly down-wind of the display. After any large eruption, we could only see a cloud of smoke. We also had to deal with firework debris fallout. Although, I admit that was kind of cool. Even the way the lingering smoke was illuminated by the following explosions was sometimes cool.

Luckily I was able to enjoy the show with a group of great friends, and isn't that what it's really all about.

Favorite Links

2007-07-05T21:41:00.000-04:00

You'll notice to the right I added a few of the sites that I visit on a daily basis. Here's a rundown of each one.

bookofjoe -'World's most popular blogging anesthesiologist'

digg - it's a social bookmarking site created by Kevin Rose of TechTV fame.

Engadget - great news site for information on all types of gadgety goodness.

Gizmodo - another news and information site on gadgets. See a trend forming here?

Kotaku - news and information about video games.

Maddog's Musings - one of my good friend's blogs. He likes sports and movies.

Pitchfork - independent music site out of Chicago. Their reviews rock.

Revision3 - a virtual TV network. I watch Diggnation and The Totally Rad Show religiously.

A little bit more about Diggnation and The Totally Rad Show...

Diggnation is a webcast that covers some of the top stories that were posted to digg. It's hosted by Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht. They both used to be on TechTV. On a side note, I hate G4. They bought out TechTV and canceled all the good shows. However, on a good note, we now have Revision3 and "This Week in Tech" (hosted by Leo LaPorte).

The Totally Rad Show is a webcast hosted by Alex Albrect, Dan Trachtenberg, and Jeff Cannata. They review movies, video games, books, comic books, and TV shows.

Both of these shows are very funny. Check them out, you won't be disappointed.

Quite possibly the coolest game yet to be released!

2007-07-04T11:31:00.000-04:00

Rock Band looks to kick Guitar Hero's wimpy little ass! Check out the video.

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-03T18:10:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Stay tuned for my review of the Indianapolis fireworks display.