Home Owner

Closed on my condo earlier today. I'm now a proud home owner! Pics later.

As a house warming gift to myself, I've been contemplating upgrading my stereo setup. I'm either going to upgrade the amp or the record player. I've currently got a NAD C320 BEE and a Music Hall MMF 2.1. I'm thinking of getting the Vincent SV-236MK or Music Hall MMF 5.1. Gonna cost a pretty penny though. The Vincent is about $2k and the MMF 5.1 is $1k. We'll see exactly how much I care about my audio setup...

Looking for some ambient music? Check out Sweden's Library Tapes.

Zoologist

Until recently, I always pronounced this as "zoo"-"ologist". But it was brought to my attention that there are only 2 and not 3 o's after the z. Thus, the correct pronunciation is "zo"-"ologist". *Cue "The More You Know" music.

I rented the Canon 14mm f/2.8L lens over the weekend. On my full frame 5D mkII, this lens is ridiculously wide. I can definitely get used to that, especially for landscapes or even portraits. If only it didn't cost $2,000...

Listen to the No Agenda podcast. It's one of the most informational and entertaining podcasts around.

Killer Shakes

About a month ago, I started on the Bill Starr 5x5 training program. Pretty interesting workout. All compound lifts with weekly progressions and ramp-ups. I've already put on maybe 6 or 7 pounds and I've noticed my metabolism increase significantly. As a result, I've started to make shakes for breakfast instead of just drinking coffee and eating muffins. I got this blender and I'm making the following two shakes.

Chocolate

2 scoops of chocolate whey protein
milk
banana
peanut butter
flaxseed oil

Strawberry

2 scoops of strawberry whey protein
milk
banana
strawberries
blueberries or raspberries or both
flaxseed oil

I've been drinking these every morning and every post-workout. So far I'm preferring the strawberry one. Maybe I'll try it out with vanilla protein and other fruits as I get sick of them.

Best Of

Seems like everyone's making a list these days. Here's my top 10 of 2008.

10. Deerhunter - Microcastle
9. This Will Destroy You - s/t
8. Max Richter - 24 Postcards in Full Color
7. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
6. Vampire Weekend - s/t
5. Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale
4. Upcdowncleftcrightcabc+start - Embers
3. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
2. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
1. Mooncake - Lagrange Points

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Of course! I got a PS3 recently and was finally able to watch my blu-ray copy of the "final cut" of Blade Runner. After 26 years and uncountable viewings, this still holds up as one of the best movies ever made. The blu-ray transfer looks awesome, too.

Also got a new camera this past weekend: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. One of its nice features is the ability to shoot 720p video (24fps motion JPEG). I've been thinking about getting into making those. Here's my first attempt.

After browsing several "artsy" videos on Vimeo, I've realized the formula to 95% of them is just to shoot a bunch of stills, link them together, and put on a nice post-rock soundtrack. In fact, I've already got my next soundtrack picked out :-)

Wreck Chords

Just sold my unopened Bright Eyes vinyl box set on eBay for $130. Not bad considering I paid maybe $30-40 for it just a few years ago. This got me thinking about the other "rare" records I may or may not have. I have 3 copies of Hopesfall's "Satellite Years". Too bad that band sucks now. Those records are worthless. I have a bunch of Mars Volta picture discs and I never listen to their music anymore. I bet they'll fetch a nice penny on eBay. Same for the Converge and Isis limited editions I have but I'll never sell those.

Storm on Wilderness Lake

Recently, I ran across this thread on InStrife. Ever since then, I've been obsessed with nature recordings, specifically, thunderstorms. Dan Gibson has a whole series under the title Solitudes. The series has recordings of various nature sounds but the thunderstorm ones are particularly cool. "Storm On Wilderness Lake", released back in 1982, has 2 tracks, each one 30 minutes long, and they're just recordings of storms. Dunno what it is about them, but I've been listening to them constantly at work.

Also watched Helvetica (trailer) recently. It's a documentary on the Helvetica font. Designed in 1957, it's probably the world's most popular typeface. It's an interesting movie if you're interested in design in general. It also reminded me of this zip-up with the built-in typography joke.