Festivus, the royalty-free holiday

I can't say I was surprised when I read this latest tidbit from the front lines of the copyright wars. In brief, the Performing Rights Society, Britain's copyright collections agency, sued a charity because the radio in their kitchen was loud enough to be heard in a public dining room, apparently constituting some form of public performance. Then, they proceeded to ask for more money because kids were singing Christmas carols there which were copyrighted.

To me, this is a ringing endorsement of Festivus. In addition to being the non-religious holiday, it's also the non-commercial holiday. No carols, no traditional songs, just an aluminum pole and plenty of alcohol and merriment to go around. Come to Festivus at the Herford and don't worry about having your pants sued off.

seeds and lemons

So you're looking to spend some quality time with your dad this sunday, but you haven't yet thought of something the two of you could do together. Maybe you don't have enough in common, and the fear of awkward silences and conversations about superficial things like sports teams is weighing on your thoughts. If you're into local music, I have a solution, and it involves beer. Your dad might have to warm up to the bands, but everybody knows that beer helps to smooth out those rough spots in conversation. Plus, it is common knowledge that silences aren't as awkward when there is live music. The Seedy Seeds and Pomegranates are playing tomorrow night at Northside Tavern, and you should be there. It does not necessarily have to be a part of your plans with your dad, but it is required for any fan of Cincinnati music.

Also, lemonade. Who doesn't love lemonade? If such a person exists, I haven't met them. But I do know plenty of people who probably haven't yet tasted the best lemonade on the face of the earth. It is stored in a gigantic glass jar with lemons floating in it, and if you offer its keeper a dollar, he may just let you taste it. That is, if he hasn't run out of plastic cups. Go to Findlay Market, and at the center of the main building, you'll find it, along with jars containing other assorted cold, refreshing drinks with fruit halves floating in them. Delicious. And I'm serious about the one dollar.

late night

So last night was fun. Stayed at work with Micah until midnight working on the Children's Museum of Manhattan project. Or shoud I say, progressed a little further while spending more than half the time just talking. I don't know how, but I actually do get some amazing things accomplished here. I think more working environments should be like this - however this week has been exhausting. I've gotten an extra project dumped on me that needs to be done by Saturday night, so I'm pretty sure Micah and I will be spending most of the day Saturday here.

In other news, as some may know, I'm in the market for a new computer, but I've been holding out until Apple can come up with something more aesthetically pleasing than the current line of MacBook Pros (or, the McBook with Fries, as opposed to the plain McBook). The grey plastic border and spray-painted keys just don't do it for me, Steve. And the wide screen bezel makes it look like a toy compared to the thinner, more squarish titanium. Dell agrees with me. Look at their Inspiron series - white metal border, black keys. So there, Steve, I just told you there's a Dell computer that looks sexier than yours (inspired by your own design no less) - what're you going to do now?

File a patent for a new case design, apparently.

For the win (from macrumors.com):

In the application, Apple acknowledges that while "current enclosure designs work well, in many instances it would be desirable to provide enclosures that are thinner, lighter, stronger and aesthetically more pleasing than current enclosure designs."

stadium lights

It's another cool night outside on the supervisor shift. Tonight I'm spotlighted by the sterile glow and insectile hum of the stadium lights, pumping millions of watts of power to light the playing field for three people playing frisbee.

Saw The Selmanaires at the Comet for free last night, after filling my stomach with one of their delicious burritos and a Christian Moerlein lager. I was duly impressed with the intensity with which they banged out their unique sound, something I couldn't bring myself to compare to any of the indie rock mainstays or popular indie sounds. It's a bad habit, making comparisons. Something I've been trained to do by immitation. They were easily one of the best acts I've seen at the Comet thus far, a band that really had it together - even the interstitial spaces between their songs were filled with little repeating electronic background melodies while the band members switched places and instruments.

I also apparently have a standing marriage proposal, should I choose to accept. I was at Mac's Pizza Pub with Nate this evening, and the waitress, upon seeing my Seedy Seeds shirt, first words out of her mouth were a sarcastic "will you marry me". It's good to see someone else who loves good local music as much as I do. So we chatted about the band a bit, during which I informed her of the upcoming CD listening party previewing their first full-length release that the Seedy Seeds are having at Rohs Street on June 30th. There'll be free food, good music, and good people aplenty, so I encourage everyone that can attend to be there.

extensible

So, this morning, I decided that for my current project at work, it was necessary to learn how to use XML data in Flash. Like in times past, I simply jacked into the Matrix, inserted the "Learn XML" disk and instantly learned everything there is to know.

Whoa. I know XML.

Not exactly. But I soaked up some juicy important fruity bits after reading for a solid hour and a half. Now, my mind is going insane. Dynamic content... in Flash? Oh, the possibilities! Apparently using XML socket servers is a great way to write chat applications that use Flash. I instantly thought of the project that Steve had in mind for me to work on, had I ended up working at UCit as my co-op, to create a website where UC students could get real-time help from employees of the libraries or IT departments. He was thinking PERL, of course, but now... pretty chat app in Flash? Makes me want to jump on that project the minute I get back to UCit.

You know the first thing I'm going to do is make a scoreboard for Asteroids.

groggy

It's too nice of a night to be cooped up in the dungeons of Zimmer on my lazy sunday supervisor shift at UCit. I'm sitting in the middle of campus on a temperate, cool night with the vintage titanium powerbook enjoying some Highlander Grogg instead, to inagurate the new blog.

I think Campari Nights sounds like a decent, if somewhat kitschy title for a memoir of the years in Cincinnati. I was at Alchemize on friday when I discovered that they stocked that wonderful red liquor, and that Campari and tonic there was cheaper than some beers. That'll be me drink of choice next friday, when we celebrate the last weekend of the ill-fated club and bar. Hopefully there will be more people that decide to grace the dancefloor. They seemed to want to congregate out back that night, given the wonderful weather. It was a night of awesomeness.

I haven't been to the Poison Room in quite a while. There was a time when it was a weekly occurence, but now it seems there are some who lack interest because they think you can actually get tired of Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Or maybe it was the drama. It's always the drama, I suppose.

Oh well. Had fun with Jackie and portions of the west side gang at laser tag on saturday. Can you believe I'd never played laser tag before? My legs ache today, and I place the blame squarely on running around in that maze shooting teenagers.