Saturday, April 25, 2009

Happy 6th Birthday Joey!

Wow. My big guy is 6. That's amazing!

Small gathering of family and friends today. Nothing huge like last year.

Happy birthday Joey!

Friday, April 24, 2009

DIY Hi-Fidelity Recording for the Cheapass Geek

I think my Facebook update a few days ago was something along the lines of, "is doing some recording with an SM-57, a home brew mic preamp, and Audacity. I'm an amateur music tech and I'm a PC."

The Sure SM-57 is the mic that people think of when they think instrument recording. It's an omnidirectional mic, which means it doesn't just pick up the sound in front of it, it picks up the sound all around it. But the thing is, it has a fairly focused range.

What this means is that I suspended a single SM-57 from the ceiling above my drums and recorded using a home brew mic preamp. And the playback sounded like someone was sitting there playing the drums. That is, by definition, Hi-Fi.

And I did it on the cheap.

The key was to make a high-quality +-15V power supply. You'll recall this from an earlier post to which I won't link because I'm lazy (use the search function darn you!).

So anyway I had some fun last night recording drums, cranking up my amplifier, and playing my guitar along with myself on the drums in Hi-Fi. It roxed.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

RFT: Iowa or Bust

No, Greg isn't among the passengers on the party bus.

RIP Cooper

Cooper has shown his last act of aggression. Cooper is the black lab mix who's always had an attitude problem. Last night he bit my neighbor which was pretty much the final straw.

I guess I've seen this coming which is why I'm not too horribly upset. Julie on the other hand... well... give her a call with some nice words, it will make her day.

I'm almost a bit relieved. I've always been afraid that he would either send one of my kids to the ER or even put a lawsuit on my hands. At least with him being gone my kids are a bit safer, as is my wallet.

Cooper was our first dog. We got him when we lived in the apartment. He's been there for all of it. We'll miss him.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ugh. Sick Kids.

So there's a "fever virus" going around among kids right now. That's the technical term I suppose.

For those of you who remember when Andy was really sick, you remember how he was. He's kinda the same now. He just wants to put his head on Daddy's shoulder and do nothing else.

Emma is feeling better, so that's a plus.

Mr. Joey has decided to join the fun. No "fever virus" for him. No ear infuction. He's having headaches and itchy eyes. Yep. You guessed it. Hay fever! Just like his ol' man.

Fun stuff.

Hey, at least it nets me a day off work.

piss.

Monday, April 20, 2009

So What's New?

Been busy lately? Yeah me too. Now that Manbearpig is finally here we're finally able to get some outdoor work done. I put the finishing touches on Julie's new flower box outside. 4' x 20'. It's a big monster. Heavy too. 2x6 cedar. The worst part about it was getting a couple coats of glossy white on it. But it's pretty cool. Now we just need to put something in it!

In other news, Greg still sux. And he's still Kanadian.

Emma picked up an ear infection. She was running fevers around 102.8, thereabouts. Andy picked up the fever part from her but not the ear infection so that's good.

Emma's really getting quite a personality on her. I love 3-year-olds. They're awesome. But 2-year-olds are still a pain in the ass.

We're dumping Dish Network and getting AT&T U-Verse. For the same monthly price we'll get DVR in 5 rooms, better picture quality, more channels, and best of all we'll still have TV regardless of the weather. I call it a win-win.

Nothing much new going on. Just been busy.

How about you? Seems nobody really wants to comment very much anymore.

Greg: gfy.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I'm an American!

W Sr, BJ Clinton, W, and now B Hussein have all been very polarizing presidents. Pelosi and Gengrich also come to mind as very polarizing speakers. Now everyone is either liberal or conservative.

They're all extremeists.

I'm an American. I believe in small government. I see no problem with gay marriage. I hate paying for baby-factory mammas who refuse to get a job because they'll lose their gummet check. Why is marijuana illegal? Why raise taxes for ANYONE? A woman's body is her choice (sorry Julie but it's how I feel). Laws of the land should NOT be based on a code of laws that is thousands of years old and applies to tribal society. If you don't make enough to pay taxes, you should NOT receive any tax credits. Government should stay the hell out of private business. Government should stay the hell out of my life. Government should hire the best contractor for the job, not X number of minority-owned businesses regardless of merit. Only rednecks and the financially uninformed think a flat tax is a good idea. Why the hell is marijuana illegal? And what the hell is so wrong with 2 people of the same gender getting married? And why won't government stay out of my life???

*sigh*

You get the idea.

I'm so sick of liberals and conservatives.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!

I hope the Easter Cabbit was good to all of you!

Friday, April 10, 2009

The 10th Anniversary of my 21st!

In keeping with tradition my dad and I went to the Cardinals game tonight for our birthdays.

So I obviously post this with a beer buzz so I shall keep it short and to the point.

The 10th anniversary of my 21st is more meaningful than the 10th anniversary of my 20th. 21 was when I really turned from a teenager into a twenty-something. So yeah, thinking back 10 years ago means more than it did a year ago. And oh my how things have changed since then. I will not attempt to sum up a decade in 2 sentences so I will now shut up.

So there we go.

night.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Facebook Relationship Idea

I see a lot of "People you may know" on Facebook. The thing is, my Facebook contains quite a bit about me. They need an "acquaintance" mode or something.

"Yeah, I know this person, but they smell bad so I don't want to know too much about them and I don't want them to know much about me."

But at least they're added to your network.

Or whatever. Look, I'm really tired and exhausted. I'm gonna play some Civ IV now.

Cancer Sux

Thank you for playing.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Opening Day!

Ok, all you Kalifornians and Arizonans, you probably don't get it. So you can just continue on to the next post.

Ok. We're left with mostly St. Louisans, right? Is this not one of your most favorite days of the year? I don't know about you but I start looking forward to Opening Day starting around Super Bowl time. The anticipation, the excitement, the hype, the SEA OF RED! I love it!

But you know what? I've never been to one! Even when I worked at the Sverdrup building right across from the stadium, the closest I ever came was walking to lunch at Kiener Plaza then going to the game after they open the gates in the 8th inning.

And this isn't the year to start. Brrrr!

Ok so next year. I'm gonna go. Who's with me?

Greg, piss off. You're not invited. Go watch men's figure skating or something.

Oh yeah, and a big hello to Mayor Slay and/or staff. Thank you for joining the crap pile that is this website. I'm still pissed aboot those cameras, eh.

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Pain of Pain

As you can probably imagine Andy has a freakishly-high pain threshold. He loves the attention pain brings but doesn't really seem to feel it. Gee, I wonder why.

Tonight Andy fell out of the top bunk of the boys' bunk bed. Head first. He was hurt, and for him to show that kind of pain, he was really hurt.

Scared the hell out of me.

For those of you who followed along with Andy's blog you know that I am very empathetic toward Andy's pain. I almost feel it. That hurt tonight.

He's ok. But ouch.

Bed time.

Mayor Slay Will NOT Ban Red Light Cameras if Re-Elected

----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Kelley
To: mayorslay@mayorslay.com
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 12:33 PM
Subject: Will I vote for Mayor Slay?

That seems to be the big question I'm being asked by pollsters. I'll let you answer this.

If I vote for Mayor Slay, will he get rid of red light cameras? If no, then he has lost my vote.

The Official Response:
from communicat
to Dan Kelley
date Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 1:10 PM
subject Re: Will I vote for Mayor Slay?


Just drive safely. OK?

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Terrapin Custom Pick Guards

Ok all. I'm checking these guys out: http://www.terrapinisland.com/ Sounds like a 1-man shop but someone who's pretty dedicated to it. I think they're worth a spin. I've ordered some sample material. Check out their pickup combos here .

Will keep you informed. First I need to pick a bridge humbucker. I'm open to suggestions? Want it to be $65 or less. Yeah you heard me. $65 or less. So be creative.