Christmas break...

Just got in the Bird Ensemble's album, so I'm excited to work on that. Should be a challenge, due to the extreme dynamics and tape hiss, but I'm ready for it. Gives me a chance to kick start my thesis, also, which is really needed.

I'm in Nashville until Saturday, and then I'm back to Columbia for a day, then onto Decatur on the 18th.

Holy shit, this album is amazing. Oh man.

-ed

Helium?

So I downloaded Joanna Newsom's Y's, and you know what, despite everything I've ever read saying that she has a weird voice, it really doesn't sound that strange to me. Sure, it's not something that the mainstream would latch onto, but I mean, I was really expecting something crazy. It's not to say that I don't love the album. I do. I just think she gets a bad rap for her voice.

-ed

Improvement!

So, here's the song that I worked on for my Recording Engineer class, along with Caleb Williams and Garrett Miller.

Rain - The Reed Pittman Band

It's long and a large file, as I encoded it at 320/kbps. I mean, we recorded it at 88.1kHz, I feel like I owe it to the song to encode it that high. I mastered it this morning, and I was so happy to find that it's probably the best sounding thing I've ever been a part of. I also found out that our raw tracks are being used in the Master Mixing class for the song that everyone has to mix. So out of all the people's tracks that were brought in, ours were deemed the best. Amazing. Pretty proud of that fact.

-ed

Archives...

So I was going through my hard drive, looking at all the old crap that I had recorded, and I came across this gem I did when I was a senior in HS:

Again - The Firewheel Project

I'm proud of this song for a few reasons.

1) It's the first song I ever used my banjo on
2) It's the first time I programmed decent sounding drums. Does it matter the pattern stays the same? There's at least one fill. And a crash cymbal.
3) It sorta has a melody
4) I kinda like the electric guitar parts I came up with

And there you have it. Maybe if I feel bored again I'll upload some more winners.

-ed

Edit:

Found this one too:

Yellowrose - The Firewheel Project

Totally wrote this for my girlfriend at the time, I think it was freshman year of college. How lame. But I mean, it's not terrible.

New Modest Mouse!

I've been excited to hear new stuff since they added Johnny Marr, and now video and crappy live mp3's are out there. I've listened to "We've Got Everything," and it seems to pick up on the heals of Good News with that disco type beat and lilting guitar lead. I've heard some "complaining " about their new material having a Smiths type feel to it...but that has to be expected as, you know, Johnny Marr was, you know in the Smiths, and you know, was responsible for that sound and you know, he kinda sounds like he was in the Smiths. Dumb.

Don't think the album has leaked yet. I'll be sure to find out when it does.

-ed

I'm getting really tired...

Of this hot weather. It's nearly November. I want to be cold. Thankfully, I think it will start cooling down this week.

Also, I love Public Enemy.

-ed

FIRST POST IN A LONG TIME

So, I have to write a letter to the Honors Council telling them why I believe their objections to my Thesis Prospectus are basically retarded. Here's what I wrote the first time:

Finally, the last concern deals with “whether your study would have any audience outside of highly trained engineers who care about the issue.” I absolutely fail to see the relevance of this concern. Are you people fucking retarded? Why the fuck does anyone do any study then? You know people who write PHD thesis and papers about fucking black holes and shit? What the fuck does that have to do anyone outside of the fucking physics insiders? Does it make their studies any less relevant because I, as an audio engineer, will never have to deal with a fucking black hole in my life, unless in my lifetime we advance so much that they’re fucking blasting people into space and accidentally there are these black holes that are sucking them into the nether worlds and we have to have some sort of global conference of all the best minds in the world so that they can develop a way to stop people from getting sucked into these fucking black holes. Then, just then, might the research done on black holes have anything to do with anyone besides the highly trained scientists that love them so much. Also, all those English majors who write shit about Beowulf or some other archaic work of literature, are they enlightening anyone besides HIGLY FUCKING TRAINED EXPERTS in their field? Well, maybe some college student WHO IS STUDYING THE DAMNED SUBJECT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Do you think a fucking soccer mom in Idaho is going to give a flying fuck about that? I think she’ll give more of a shit if her Norah Jones CD gives her an earache than she will about motherfucking Grendel and his motherfucking mother. So, to answer your question, people do shit all the time that only applies to those who are interested in the subject. An audience will find the subject if they care about it. If they don’t give a fucking shit about it, then no, there won’t be an audience for it. I don’t even know how to dignify this question without being belligerently profane.

This is what I actually sent:

Finally, the last concern deals with “whether your study would have any audience outside of highly trained engineers who care about the issue.” To give you an absolutely honest response, no, there would be very little audience outside of audio engineers. However, this does not mean that a study should not be done. As I wrote in my prospectus, audio mastering is a small field, but it is something that I enjoy and am passionate about. Because it is a small community, there is much interaction amongst engineers, be it through AES meetings or online discussion forums. Information is exchanged freely, and attempts to help each other through difficult situations are common. I also constantly run into students here at Belmont that are interested in mastering, yet have no real idea what it involves. As someone who was once in their place, I want to make it easier for them to be able to get into mastering, and to care about the fidelity of their recordings. If they are educated now about the issue of dynamic range, they might be able to persuade their clients not to try to win the loudness wars, but to allow their recording to retain dynamics, which ultimately leads to a more enjoyable recording. I am not doing this study for the benefit of just anyone, I am doing it for the people who truly care about how audio sounds, and their audience is the only one that I care about. If in turn they decide to head my suggestions, then my audience indirectly includes anyone who hears their recordings, even though they might no be aware of it.

Durr. I really, really think that these people do not want me to do anything that is beneficial to myself, or that they are so uninformed as to what a thesis is supposed to do that they don't know how to raise legitimate concerns. I know that these are educated people (supposedly), but to them, mastering is some voodoo crap that doesn't mean anything to anyone besides engineers, when in fact it does affect their listening experience. Whatever. I just needed to get that out.

-ed

Where has my life gone?

Why the hell am I senior? It seemed like it took forever to be a senior in HS, and now I'm less than a year away from being done with my higher education. And basically, I feel like I am in no way ready to be a contributing member of society, let alone leave the comforting confines of academia, where I have no real responsibilities and too much free time. I'm sure this thought scares all people who approach graduation, and hopefully I'll be less worried/freaked out about this prospect as the year goes on and all sorts of things fall into place. I mean, shit, it was just yesterday I was drinking beer with Mitch on our cardboard couch in Pembroke, and now I'm wondering how I'll survive once I get a diploma.

Why did I think being an engineer was a good idea again? Someone, refresh my memory.

-ed

Well...

I only have one week left in my internship at Georgetown. It's not exactly how I pictured it would be, but it's not a total waste of time either, as I've learned how a mastering studio operates, a subject of which I was in the complete dark about before this started. And I have learned a few valuable tricks, so it's not all been lost. School kicks back up in a little more than 2 weeks, and when Andrew asked me what classes I was taking, I couldn't name them. Is this a bad thing? I should probably look into it before the 23rd. And I need to buy books. Whatever.

As far as my pilaging of the Georgetown CD collection goes, the best find has been Alejandro Escovedo's Gravity, which is a great "traditional" alt-country record. And by that I mean that it sounds like country should, not like what I've been subjected to on a daily basis while interning.

-ed

Disco, Disco...

So last night's Disco Arts and Crafts Collective show was a huge success, so thanks to everyone who came out to the Love Joy House and got down with us. Sadly, it will probably be our last show for quite a while since Sam is moving to NYC and I'll be staying in Nashville, but at least we got to do it one time before she left. Laura videotaped it for us, so hopefully I'll get my hands on that sometime soon, just to see how ridiculous I looked. Remember kids, tuning is relative.

-ed

F*CK!

So the microwave at work is broken, and I'm stuck here for 8 hours with only a bag of M&M's to eat. Glad I bought those microwavable pasta things to eat for dinner.

-ed

America...

I have just experienced my first nosebleed...ever. I am sitting at work, watching Law and Order (gotta love working for Belmont), and my nose just decided to bleed. I was pretty amazed and excited. I had to look up how to stop it on the internet (pinching the nostril works wonders). Whoo!

-ed

www.pandora.com

God, I'd forgotten how boring it is working at RCA B.

-ed

Did You Know...

That the tops of UPS trucks are not painted brown? In fact, they are white. You would know this too if you worked on a 2nd floor studio and had ample access to a window.

-ed

First Night...

...staffing at the vaunted CMB studios. So far, I figured out how to mount the drive on the RADAR. Funny how this is shit they negelect to teach us in any class, or even when we do our evaluations. But I figured it out, by God.

-ed

Experiment...

This week, I will attempt to spend no more than $25. This does not factor in how much gas I go through, as it's already in my tank. So, I will keep a running tally of how much I have spent, starting today, May 29th, and going through to June 3rd. I think Friday and Saturday will be the deal breaker, but if I can keep it within $10 during the week...I can splurge a bit on the weekend. Whoo!

-ed

Monday, May 29th: $0
Tuesday, May 30th: $12...I didn't factor in getting sick. The unforseen cost of medicine may do me in.
Wednesday, May 31st: $0
Thursday, June 1st: $0
Friday, June 2nd: $6...bought some catfish bait and nightcrawlers for fishing tomorrow.
Saturday, June 3rd: $1...Pringles chips.

GRAND TOTAL: $19....sweet.

Scooby Doo Mac and Cheese and wine...

The dinner of champions. Or a poor intern. You choose.

-ed

Internship, Day 2...

So, after settling in as cleaning boy/message taker, I'm hoping I get some more observation in at the studio. But today, Carolyn DAWN Johnson (as she always introduced herself as), was in, listening to her album w/ Andrew, and her "too old to try to act cool, but still dresses like he wants to be 20" manager was there too. But what I gathered from that thing was this: I don't give a crap about Carolyn Dawn Johnson. I'm sure people would go apeshit over the fact that I got to be in the same space as her for 8 hours, but really, I could have cared less who she was, and I'm not just saying that because it's the nashville cool thing to say. She was nice and all, but she was just a person to me. Now, contrast that with my feelings when Brent said that they might be doing some Death Cab For Cutie tracks. I immediately pictured Ben Gibbard chilling in the lounge, and I got all excited, like a fan of CDJ would have today. So basically, I'm still a fan at heart, especially of bands that changed my musical direction, and as much as I try to minimize that when I do work, it's hard to stay aloof when there is music you get truly excited about.

-ed

Oh No! Oh My!

I'm really loving this song right now...

I Love You All The Time - Oh No! Oh My!

They're playing at Reverb Media on Sunday night around 9pm, and I think Bryan is looking into signing them. I plan on being there, and you, the large audience of this blog, should be there too.

-ed

How...



does a guy who looks like a bald Lil' Kim throw down on the Spurs? This needs to stop.

-ed

Can I get a hell yeah...

For Fiesta in San Antonio?

There's this one incident that will stick with me forever about Fiesta, and King Antonio. It happened when I was probably in 2nd or 3rd grade. We were all sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch, and for those unfamiliar with the SMH cafeteria, it was glass all the way around so that you could see everything that was happening around the campus. Anyways, we were eating, and all of a sudden three police cars, sirens blaring and lights flashing come driving into the campus and out towards the back where the dorms were. Now, having survived 4 years of SMH, there was only one thing that I corellated with police, and that was the arrival of King Antonio.

See, King Antonio visited all the schools around San Antonio during Fiesta. He was usally some rich white guy, and more often than not he was the father or grandfather of some kid at SMH. When he entered a school, he was precceded by SA Police, with their lights flashing etc...like he was some big dignitary. It was sweet because he would give out little plastic coins that had his name on it, and if you were lucky you could score a sweet pin that had some sort of Fiesta symbol on it. It was also cool because we got to waste a lot of time waiting for him to arrive, and then waste more time as he presented the school library with a book. It also meant that we were going to get out of school for the Fiesta parades. All in all, it was a good time.

Anyways, what actually happened that day was some psycho stole a police car and was being chased by actual police and drove it into our campus, which unfortunately for the psycho, did not have any other exits besides the front gate. So the guy gets stuck somewhere in the back and then attempts to flee on foot, only to be captured by the police in what I'm assuming was a pretty epic foot chase. All I'm saying is that I was pretty pissed when I didn't get a King Antonio coin that day.

Like I said, King Antonio is for the rich white guys. For the Mexicans, we have El Rey Feo, or in English, The Ugly King. Here's this years Rey Feo, Ronnie Gabriel:



El Rey Feo was always so much more awesome than King Antonio because they were Mexican and saw the whole fake royalty as what it was; a huge, retarded joke, and had a load of fun with it. Here's to you, El Rey Feo.

-ed

Strange...

I saw this:



...on my way to work tonight. There were actually two of them. Apparently, they are called "Tall Bikes," because that's what I searched for and I came up with these pictures. I really don't understand them. Wouldn't it hurt like hell to fall off one of these things? Do you just jump off? I would think it would be a pain to dismount or even get on. Is this like the anti-low rider? Weird.

-ed

Disturbing News...

Admittedly, I haven't been to a San Antonio Missions game since 2002, but apparently they now have another mascot to go along with Henry The Puffy Taco. His name is Ballapeno, and he looks like this:



I really don't remember this guy being at the games. It was all about Henry and how he would get tackled by the kids before he could reach home plate between innings. Henry was f*cking awesome. Ballapeno? Lame. Check this picture out:

What's this shit? The Ballapeno beating up Henry? That has got to stop. San Antonio Missions front office, please, get rid of the Ballapeno.

-ed

and this...

Index for Free, Comprehensive Audio and Video Course

don't forget this, eric

http://www.bostonnoise.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=labels;action=display;num=1024454509

I don't believe...

that there is any worse collection of sympathetic frequencies masquarading as musical expression than that damn James Blunt song.

-ed

Now gather around, and check this shit out...

So I'm at this position where I sort of know what I want my senior thesis to be about, but not exactly what it is. In the broad sense, it is about mastering, but what about mastering? My original idea was to do a study of the rising "loudness" of masters in the past 2 decades, starting with vinyl releases, comparing them to original CD remasters in the laste 80's-early 90's, and then newer remasters from recent years. I would focus on the diminishing dynamic range of today's recordings, and look at how it affects the consumer at home (or how it doesn't affect, if that's the case). I would also look at factors that led to where we are now, and if there are harmful things that occur when pushing everything to 0dBfs.

However, I'm worried that this isn't sufficient enough. I'm going to try to broaden it out to include interviews with mastering engineers from across the board and eras, firsthand experiments, random tests to see what sounds better to people (i.e. playing a classically mastered recording versus a newer one at the same volume level and see which one they find more pleasing, or musically interesting). For all these examples, I would take it upon myself to record a band, mix it, and then do various types of mastering. Then I would make a DVD of it. Or something. Until I put it in front of the Honors Council, I really don't know if this will fly. I'm hoping that because Belmont offers nothing about mastering, that they will see that this is going beyond the average student here and beyond what the program here can give me. I really think that will be a selling point. Hmmmm. Let's hope this thing works.

-ed

I love you to the max.

So, since it seems that Kory is banging the entire 20 and under female population of Prestonburg, KY this month, I keep meeting these girls (who are always blond) under the same circumstances, which is me, sitting on the couch, watching something like 'Real World" or "Sportscenter." This weekend, I've seen this one girl probably 4 times, and three of them have found me in the same situation. Which makes me think that this girl probably thinks I am the biggest loser in the world who just sits and watches TV all day.

But this is not the case, I swear.

All these incidents have occured when I've come back from class, or been up in my room doing work, etc. I'm really not that lazy, Prestonburg women, really. And maybe I just so happened to be watching the Real World. Who doesn't? The fourth time this newest girl came in, I made sure that she saw me washing the dishes as she left, to prove that I'm not a one-dimensional person. I'm a real boy!

-ed

If you can't beat them...

Colts signed Adam Vinatieri, and got rid of that Vanderjadt fool. Hallelujah.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-colts-vinatieri&prov=ap&type=lgns

-ed

I...

have a hour left at work, and I've run out of websites to go to. Tetris time.

-ed

Seriously Dad, wtf...

I got this e-mail from my dad this morning:

I am now undefeated as a coach of junior high soccer. I am 1-0. We beat Hickman County yesterday evening 3-1. One great goal, one gift off an opposing defenseman, and a PK because the goalie tripped one of our players going after a ball. The game was in Centerville(aka Grinder's Switch, home of Minnie Pearl one of your alums.) There is a statue of her in the town square.

Wow. You have to wonder who died to make him coach. I volunteered my services as a goalie coach, and told him to make sure the kids keep wide.

If anything, it would be a great Disney movie: Old, grumpy coach with little soccer coaching experience takes group of young rascals and under his wing and molds them into a cohesive unit that wins the championship in shootout against a much better team. It would be called "I have a full tank of gas, and we're headed north. We'll make it there eventually: The Alex Domkowski Story"

-ed

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...

I do believe I would like to read that again, as I used it as a basis for one of my Analytics exams. Also, my Simon and Garfunkel example was greeted with joy, not confusion, as I suspected might happen. I simply cannot write an essay without some ridiculous pop culture analogy. But hey, that's what makes life fun, huh?

-ed

Survived!

So I survived my two tests on Monday, hopefully passed them too. We'll see. A few more days until spring break, which will be a whole lot of needed nothingness. Talked to Viking about maybe living in his house, and he said there might be room, so that's a good thing, because I need to solidify this living situation thing soon, as well as searching for a job and an internship. I just hope I don't procrastinate this too much.

BTW, the new Destroyer album is pretty much perfect.

-ed

Sigh...

So it's been a while since I've written anything of substance, and for that I am truly sorry. This is going to be the weekend/Monday from hell. Class until5 ish on Saturday, and work until 1:30. Then on Sunday, we have a session booked from 10am-10pm at Ocean Way, but hopefully it won't last that long. And of course, on Monday, I have two huge tests in Analytics and Maintainence which I won't get to study for as much as I would like. I already started on the Maint. stuff, but really, I'm sure I'm going to fail that anyways. There's so much crap in Analytics, that's probably what I'll spend Saturday night cramming for. Synapses. Glial cells. etc... And then write the out of class part. woot.

I'll be glad when this is over and I get to leave for SC for spring break. I've never really needed a spring break before, but this year, it's very, very welcomed.

-ed

Sigur Ros, Ryman Auditorium, 2/14/06

So that was amazing. They started out with the whole shadows on the curtain thing, which I saw a video of prior to the concert, so I waited in eager anticipation for that to happen. We happened to have seats in the very back row of the balcony, but the view wasn't bad at all. It was ameliorated by seeing that Ben Folds had to sit in the balcony section too, stupid fedora and all. They played a lot more from ( ) than I thought they would, but I'm not complaining. The first song was Glosoli, which was awesome, but I just wish that they'd played it live with the video, because that would have given me chills. They played Olsen Olsen, which is my favorite song, so I was the guy who was cheering as soon as they triggered the sample of Jonsi singing the melody. That song is so beautiful, I'm surprised it didn't get more of a response. Who knows. Anyways, it was a great concert, and a great Valentine's Day.

-ed

( )



I get to see Sigur Ros on Tuesday. Joy abounds.

-ed

Ballz uses the word "analogous"...
Kyle wrote this to the Belmont paper after the Sexy Decoys were written about in it. Glorious.

Dear Vision Editor,

In your recent article concerning intermural sports, I was deeplyconcerned to see one glorious dynasty viewed in a bad light. As theonly graduating member of the Sexy Decoys(tm)Inc I must tell you thatI was extremely displeased with the way you portrayed all of our hardwork and total domination of Belmont Intermural sports. With the spotlight turned to the newly formed "sticky bandits", the point spread differential was one obvious detail left out of the article.
Currently, the Sexy Decoys have 3+ times the points of their nearestcompetition, the Sticky Bandits. Even with the obvious conflict of interest that is the intermural referee system, the Sexy Decoys have all but secured their 2nd straight Bruin Cup. Back to the article, we did not appreciate being compared to "the big guy" in prison who sodomizes small "new guys in prison". Even though our current domination of the intermural world seems analogous to a stitches-inducing prison rape, we do not want it compared in any way to such an act. Please consider this our forma lstatement.

Respectfully,
Decoys Graduating Senior,
Ballz(Kyle Duquette)

-ed

The Scariest Thing in Illinois...



Bonus points for identifying it.

-ed

What...

So, in honor of my 21st birthday, my grandfather sent me a bag of old Halloween candy. That's it.

Thanks, Gil.

-ed

The Whole Chicken
Tales of Turning 21

Today I turned 21. I can now do everything but rent a car and not pay ridiculous amounts for car insurance. But yeah, as far as birthdays go, it was a good one. Nothing really happened until around 5ish, when we all went out to eat at Otter's, and then somehow Tara put Blue Bell ice cream in my freezer w/o me knowing and everyone got to eat the best ice cream in the world.

Later, Mitch, Zach, Viking, Kevin, and I went to the Flying Saucer for my first legally purchased beer. The bouncer wished me a happy birthday. I bought, well I should say Mitch bought, a Grolsch, which is the beer my dad used to drink before I got conscious of what beer was and my mom made him stop for fear of my being turned in to a elementary school drunk. Not a bad choice, dad. It's from Holland and comes in sweet green bottles with a little flip top stopper. Anyways, the best part was this drunk old guy who sat across from us who would toast us randomly and tell dirty jokes. He also told me he uses Grolsch bottles to make wine with pot in it. He was hillarious.

One joke: What's the difference between erotic and kinky? If you're erotic you use a feather, but if you're kinky you use the whole chicken.

Then he said something in Polish and walked away. Amazing.

-ed

Today...

I didn't make my bed.

-ed

$4.98

Went to All You Can Eat $4.98 w/ Tara, Ashley, Stuffy, Viking, Amanda, Lauren, and Charles. It was glorious. I ate way too much. Damn you, egg rolls.

Saw Kory absolutely kill on the keytar on Saturday, and his band still did not win the Other Showcase. What a scam. I think I want to get his band to do my project for Recording Techniques, but I don't know if they'll be free or not. Basically, they are the best musicians at Belmont, and it would be amazing.

-ed

Gnaahh!

http://www.penguinwarehouse.com/

I think this for real? If so, I think we know what I want for my birthday now.

-ed

That's my cousin!

My aunt sent me my little cousin Matthew's 5th grade class picture, and I was so proud of him. Why? Because he's the kid in the front row flashing the little devil horns.

Thatta boy.

-ed

And yes, I have been drinking...

So just when I didn't really think I needed another folky singer/songwriter in my life, I hear this song by Paul Duncan. It's pretty perfect for rainy Nashville days.

Paul Duncan - Oil In The Fields

-ed

BANNED...

You know what should be banned from society? Women wearing pink velour jumpsuits, anywhere and ever. Actually, jumpsuits in general. Let's just agree on this and be friends.

-ed

It's the middle of the day, and my phone is ringing...

I've been listening to this song since break began, and it's pretty freaking awesome.

The Changes - When I Wake

First day of classes came and went, nothing too exciting.

-ed

The Secret Machines

This came on randomly on my iTunes "party shuffle," and I remembered how much I loved it. Enjoy.

The Secret Machines - Sad and Lonely

P.S. Here's a link to Ben Gibbard's solo performance of (This Is) The Dream of Evan And Chan

-ed

Winter Break EP


So here's the entire creative output of my winter break, some ok, some terrible. Some songs need explaination, and all need excuses. First off, I can't sing. Most obviously in my Pedro the Lion cover intro (and countless other instances). The one called "Someday" I recorded 2 years ago, but never mixed it or anything and basically forgot about it until this break when I was looking over old files. So I mixed it, and it's pretty hillariously bad. I think I was going through a phase when I thought that alt-country was awesome and was still bitter about certain things. Of course all my songs still sorta have a crappy folksy feel to them, but that's b/c I don't rock hard at all. The "Water Kissers" song was done in my bathroom w/ my Tascam 4-track, and I have no idea what the lyrics mean. The phrase just sounded funny. Anyways, don't laugh too hard if you do download this.

Download Here
(zip file)

Track Listing:
1. After the Life Rush
2. Rivers
3. Take Me Down
4. Options
5. Oh, Right (New Years Eve)
6. Water Kissers
7. Someday

-ed

Our Girls Are Looking So Good...

And it's my last day in Columbia! Accomplished a few things on my list (I mean, we can't expect me to finish it all, right?), and didn't go insane, amazingly. Back to Nashville tomorrow, gonna see Page France w/ Sam @ the Muse, that should be a blast. Ok, enough! Sleep!

-ed

Hooray for CBS

The TV I have at home gets exactly one channel clearly, and that is CBS. So that means that I ingest a good quanity of CSI and its ilk. As I watched my doubleheader of CSI tonight, I noticed something that really started to piss me off: NO ONE EVER TURNS ON THE LIGHTS.

Am I to believe that these people live their entire lives in the dark? Like, when they go into a house, no matter what time it is, or if it's broad daylight outside, they use flashlights to look at things. Does no one realize that they can turn on LIGHTS? Electric? Florescent? Why? Why do they use flashlights? Just because someone just died doesn't mean the electric service died with them!!

And at work? ALWAYS DARK. I guess it's supposed to add to the show's mystique. But all it does is annoy me. Eff you, CSI.

-ed

Bragel

So Tara introduced me to the concept of the "bragel," or "breakfast bagel" this past week while I was at her house. Basically, it's an egg, some bacon, and a bagel. So I decided to try it out by myself today. It seems that since I've always only made scrambled eggs, no one informed me that an egg will stick to a skillet. And it will burn. So unfortunate. Tomorrow I will correct my mistake.

Details about my trip will come soon, it was a blast. I rode a horse.

-ed