So to set the scene… I’m trying to plan to get a lot of paperwork done on Sunday… didn’t happen. Namely since I “am” the webmaster for our local community association. I’d been meaning to upgrade the base WordPress install, but have dragged my feet. I figured the third e-mail from the president should ring a few motivational bells and got to it. Mind you… this was supposed to be a hour long project at the most. I ended up finding that I need to reinvigorate my PHP installation on our servers, Mac OS X 10.5.5 ones to be exact, to support GD extensions under PHP 5.2.6. Hah… you’d think that was easy, namely since it was for a plugin to be able to auto-resize photos. Nope… 4.5 hours later I finally got all the crap working (surprisingly, it all was down to installing a TrueType library [t1lib] which tied into FontConfig and then to GD). Now their site is upgraded, but my day has been shot and I’ll be scrambling to try to make up for it this week.

My big question, as to why I also had to hack my own mySQL extension as well into the install, is why doesn’t Apple sell their servers with somewhat functional installs of PHP. Really? I mean, shit… I got these things together in two days and a lot of piecing together Google searches… you’d figure some of their R&D budget would go into somewhere in their plans?

So, as my friends will hear me say it for the first time (although I do it because I was first a FreeBSD weenie) : “Fuck You Apple - and the Jobs you rode in on”

I still like my iPhone tho!

Referencing my last post, planning for the “trip” next year… the uber-bike showed up… after my patience almost reached it’s end. It was birthed to me from Bob’s BMW on Wednesday, October 29, 2008. It weighed approximately 580 pounds, was just about 6 feet long and was fire engine red (as compared to a “real” fire engine at a stoplight later in the week). I’ve been enjoying it ever since… kind of like driving a large two wheeled couch that you can lean into corners with. I got a Rallye Pro 2 riding suit to go with it, expecting to take advantage of it’s “thermal” properties for this time of the year, but it’s been fuck all “hot” recently, I’ve had to wash it once already due to sweating so much (even with the vents open). May have to do it again this weekend.

Finally, at least for tonight (I still have a lot of SoundtrackNet stuff to do this weekend… paperwork, data entry, etc.)… but I whipped up a quick batch of my Cajun Stew (which is part gumbo and part jambalaya ). I was surprised at how the corner cutting helped make it tasty (I cooked it in the lobster pot I bought to make stews in). Basically, the spices are to taste… but here’s a 1 hour meal with leftovers for two people:

Base:

2 (Dry) Cups Jasmine Rice (in automatic rice cooker)

Stew:

Two Medium Green Peppers - Diced… seeds, and ribs removed.
One Orange (or other non-green) Pepper - Diced… seeds, and ribs removed. 
[I actually only had 1 half of one around]
Two Medium Poblano Peppers - Diced, seeds and a majority of ribs removed

Two 6oz packages of “Southwestern Style” Grilled Chicken Strips (time saver here, didn’t want to cook it)
1lb Pre-Cooked (50/70) Medium Shrimp
1lb “Sweet and Spicy” Bacon
1 Package (4 links = ~ 1 lb) Adoulle Sausage (I picked Ardelle’s) - sliced across diagonally (angled cuts - bigger pieces visually, but thin overall)
One Sweet Onion (Medium) - Diced
Three Stalks of Celery, sliced and an angle, relatively thin
1/2 Can of Tomato Paste
3 Cans of FIre Roasted Diced Tomatoes
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to taste)
2-3 Tablespoons (or more) Cajun Seasoning
3 Tablespoons of dried Cilantro (substitute fresh fro stronger taste)
3/4 Tablespoons Oregano
Dash of Dried Basil
2-3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic
3-4 Bay Leaves 

Warm up the bacon in a the pot to brown and throw in all the vegetables (including the garlic, sliced thin) into the pot one the bacon fat starts to separate (yes, the fat stays in there to glaze the veggies), on medium high. Don’t do the tomatoes yet. Add the dry seasonings. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the sausage to warm/cook. Add the chicken and shrimp 2-3 minutes after the sausage. Make sure  you’re stirring so nothing burns… there will be a significant amount of steam. Reduce heat… add shrimp. Cover for 3-5 minutes… add tomatoes… reduce heat to low, keep stirring cover for another 5-7 minutes until warm an bubbly. Serve over rice… Enjoy.

5/15/2009 : Day 1 - HOME -> Madison, WI

5/16/2009 : Day 2 - Madison, WI -> Rapid City, SD

5/17/2009 : Day 3 - Rapid City, SD -> Cody, MY

5/18/2009 : Day 4 - Cody, WY -> Jackson Hole, WY

5/19/2009 : Day 5 - Jackson Hole, WY -> Yakima, WA

5/20/2009 : Day 6 - Yakima, WA -> Seattle, WA *

5/21/2009 : Day 7 - Seattle, WA -> Portland, OR *

5/22/2009 : Day 8 - Portland, OR -> Crater Lake, OR *

5/23/2009 : Day 9 - Crater Lake, OR -> Napa, CA * 

5/24/2009 : Day 10 - Float Day ** (Wine Tour?)

5/25/2009 : Day 11 - (Memorial Day)  Napa, CA -> Kings Canyon / Sequoia *

5/26/2009 : Day 12 - Kings Canyon / Sequoia -> Las Vegas, NV *

Alt 1

5/27/2009 : Day 13 - Las Vegas, NV -> Grand Canyon, AZ

5/28/2009 : Day 14 - Grand Canyon, AZ -> Cortez, CO (Mesa Verde)

5/29/2009 : Day 15 - Cortez, CO (Mesa Verde) -> Somewhere in Western, KS

5/30/2009 : Day 16 - Somewhere in Western, KS -> Terre Haute, IN

5/31/2009 : Day 17 - -Terre Haute, IN -> HOME

Alt 2

5/27/2009 : Day 13 - Las Vegas, NV -> Grand Junction, CO (Arches NP)

5/28/2009 : Day 14 - Grand Junction, CO (Arches NP) -> Denver, CO

5/29/2009 : Day 15 - Denver, CO -> Kansas City, MO

5/30/2009 : Day 16 - Kansas City, MO -> Columbus, OH 

5/31/2009 : Day 17 - Columbus, OH -> HOME

This is the first time in my life, I was personally called a “douchebag” to my face. Not quite sure if it was “in jest” or it was actually an intent on causing harm. I apologize to my wife, Gaby, as the fact that I wasn’t wearing my wedding ring to the “Booker T and the M.G.’s” concert tonight precipitated it, and to Melissa, the gal who came down to the 9:30 Club’s back bar with her two friends (a married couple, who, the guy I was talking motorcycles to, also was without ring, and was married, helped stimulate the slur). I pretty much made a lame excuse as to why I don’t wear it… but obviously, some folks put a much depeer meaning into it than I do, and to both my wife and Melissa… I apologize for not respecting it, and also, if at all, any misrepresentations thereof.

This does get into a deeper meaning of relationships and the symbols entwined within. Rings, flowers, etc. While guys, being the big, dumb, stupid Neanderthals we are (regardless of the ones who come of, possibly, as well rounded metro-sexuals) just may not get it. We need big neon Vegas-style signs, sometimes, telling us right from wrong. I’m sure, in another life, and another place and situation, I could have hit it off with Melissa, but I’m married, and no matter how much I may complain at times, am dedicated to the relationship I do have, regardless of her taste in music (which precipitates going to some concerts as a solo act). As for being with Gaby, I do also think that I could be more inclusive with my choices in activities, even if something I really want to go to may not be in each other’s mutual interests.

So with that said, I doubt this ocurrs much as a “mea culpa” but I figured a blog is as good a place to atone for ones sins and apoligze to two people who’ve never met and, if they ever stumble across it, to apologize for any unintended trangression against them. I’m really a nice guy, who sometimes has a bad day, or, may come off, slightly, as a guy who is just really an asshole, but you want to call him that anyways. So, for any woman who does mee tme in a bar, alone… yes, I have a ring, I don’t wear it, and for that, yes, I’m a douchebag, but if you got to know me, you’d look beyond that, and would hopefulyl know me for a nice guy that I am, and also get to know my wife, Gaby for the fine person she is… just don’t judge anybody by jewelery.

As I can say, and Dan may dispute, I’ve run a company for about 10 years now. While not fantastically, but it’s still around and still generating money, and, luck willing, finally with a net zero (to plus) balance sheet by the end of the year. We’ve (read: “I”) have made some shit financing choices, as I’m sure to agree to that, for various things, but the two principals have agreed that, in principle, it’s worked out somewhat. We both haven’t drawn a salary, but we’ve had some perk otherwise not usually afforded. I’ve been slow with the business paperwork, but it eventually gets done (it’s not my day job, so thtppppt!).

Anyhow, I didn’t go to business school, nor did I get any training. My dad has  side business raising tropical fish (which is pretty much another way to fiddle with income taxes) and my grandfather has had his cabinetry business going on almost 70 years now. My grandmother, who’d never really done business work before, did the books while my grandfather did the work. They’ve done well for themselves, enough so to send both of their sons to college, and for me, heh…, to become a spoiled grandson when I was younger.

Still, what I can’t understand, which is that these supposedly bright and brilliant people can singlehandedly utilize all the greed and lack of common sense to bring down the world’s largest and most prosperous economy without anybody 1) caring, and 2) noticing. Shit, isn’t this what we have the government for? WTF are we paying Congressmen and the rest of the government for doing, taking martini lunches and kanoodling with special interest groups. My uncle and father wonder why I’ve abandoned my party this year for alternates (read: independent), and I think of the two largest powerbrokering groups in the government, who’ve lauded over control of this fair land for 100+ years in their current form, only to see it fall into a morass that we see today.

Suffice it say, I’m not done bitching about politics, and I think the story cited above will truly get me running my “critique” blog in the next few days. As Paddy Chayefsky’s Howard Beale said in Network, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore…” And, for me, that’s the exact sentiment I’m trying to express.

When I get an official video of a song off the album I’ll post it, this is a fan created version, but the entire album is worthwhile. NPR has a listen to another track here.