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:: Friday, May 30, 2003 ::

Finally remembered to go to aljfkds.com between 7am and 8am. You can see it here, you have to go the "Unique Visitors" page. So I've had someone (albeit this time, me) go to the homepage during every hour of the day. I've been trying to get a full website tracker, if anyone knows any fairly-priced trackers, let me know.

Later.
:: Matthew 8:24 PM [+]    ::
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Duffman rules - and he found this shit.

Later.
:: Matthew 8:14 PM [+]    ::
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Mmmm... sandwiches.

New travel destination:

Hoagies are not fundamentally different from New York's heroes or Boston's grinders or Everytown's submarines. Call them what you like, but Philadelphia must eat more per capita than anyplace else, and in a city where almost everybody, including Wawa convenience stores, fills eight-inch-long bread rolls with cold cuts, South Philadelphia fills them better than anyone.

Later.
:: Matthew 2:15 PM [+]    ::
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A somewhat essay on why Bob Dylan is a great singer. I've been having this argument off and on now for a year or so. It's my contention that Bob Dylan is, in fact, a great singer. You may disagree, but here are my supporting reasons.

Thesis: A great singer is one who can add depth and meaning to a song through the use of his voice. Mr. Bob Dylan, nee Robert Allen Zimmerman, is a great singer whose talents lie in the ability to match his voice to the deeper meaning of the song. This can be shown through matching his particular style (often referred to as "mumbling") to the song content and the deeper meaning that is gained and examples of Bob Dylan as a man with the ability to sing clearly and powerfully, backed up with examples of other "mumblers" who are not critically panned for the style, but rather considered better for it. To paraphrase the world-renown RJ Osterhoudt, "Bob Dylan is such an icon of rock, critics needed to find something to pan him for. His fault in singing may be that he is not very melodic, but it remains that he is a good singer with a minor fault." Let me state again that the previous quote is seriously paraphrased.

Bob Dylan's music and writings are the soul of a generation. Haunting, questioning and alive - attributes of both the beat and hippie generations, which Dylan bridged and indeed kept alive through until today. (So that's a bit overdramatic, but it's a start).

First off, a quote from this page which was attempting to create a better Dylan bio than the one posed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

While he will probably be best remembered for his lyrics, which range from the elliptical metaphysics of "Visions of Johanna" to the anthemic "Times They are 'Changin", equally important to his work is his singing. Reviled by some, the distintive honk which Dylan brings to his songs has astonishing range and power. Whether purring, snarling or howling, no one who hears it is unchanged.

This somewhat helps one to grasp what I'm driving at, the "astonishing range and power" and "no one who hears it is unchanged." This is further evidenced by a review of a show in Melbourne

On to TWIST OF FATE. This is the highlight so far. Its still electric, but the arrangement is simple and uncomplicated .. His voice is smooth and strong, and every word is sung (not spoken) crisply and clearly..He is wanting us to understand every word this time around.... He belts out, in that strong voice: "...for anything but a simple twist of fate"....
He looks awful though. He stoops slightly. He moves in slow jerky movements around the stage.. That is the physical appearance..but the voice is the opposite. Its so strong, so clear.

Then into a fast moving, fast beat version of WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW. The music and the voice charge along at 1000 miles per hour; but still Dylan is still,. Now he stands in a light semi squat. he looks so small and wizened.. But the voice,.... its going from strength to strength,.. each song it comes through clearer and stronger than the song before.... fantastic; and then the end of this song.....he starts to move. He squats, he leans and then he and his guitar play a long electric riff to end this song. The crowd goes berserk.

Dark again.. pitch black.. we can't see anything, and the electric guitars begin to wail and to howl... we pick up what it is..the opening bars of COLD IRONS BOUND. A tour de force... He is still motionless, but the melody is so strong, the voice, the guitars...

Amazing. Every song where he need to step it up a notch, he was able to bring it.

The starting point for these links were from Google. Here are some other quotes:

"Backed by his well-oiled touring band, Dylan delivers a rocking performance with absolute clarity of mind." Excellent review of Time Out of Mind - Dylan speaks about singing.

Once again, Dylan on singing and the review,

Addressing the audience, Dylan joked, "There are reports that I'm mumbling. ... If you see whoever wrote that, knock him out."

But Dylan doesn't have to resort to mumbling quite yet; he's wily, and his excellent band frames his voice in a way that allows him to make the most of his limitations. The backing quartet favors simmering midtempo blues, and they dial down so that the singer can project over them, only to rise to a quick boil between verses. Dylan plays with the words and their pacing, stretching the pauses with relish: "I used to care, but ... things have changed."

Another review, poses the following description of his voice, "His voice sounded just like it's supposed to - peculiar for superstardom and legendary status, but just perfect for Dylan. There was no mumbling, just words to songs remembered by audience members who are now parents and who can't find the words to tell their children about life in America during the close of the 20th century." Exactly right - the voice matches the song choice.

Also see here and here. I love the second review. It's copyrighted so I won't quote. But check out how it starts out saying the concert sucks and how when Dylan was inspired by the songs, it's amazing. Especially notice the descriptions of Dylan's voice - how it matches each subject matter.

Watching VH1 the other day, they mentioned that Michael Stipe was known for mumbling, and that it was a signature of his in the beginning of his career. So I checked it out.

In this entry, it insinuates that the mumbling was part of the reason they were not overlooked in Athens, GA. "Without the charisma of Stipe and his eccentric onstage behaviour, hurling himself about with abandon in-between mumbling into the microphone, they could easily have been overlooked as just another bar band, relying on the harmonious guitar sound of the Byrds for their inspiration."

From the Top Ten Ways to Tell that You Know You're Addicted to REM, number 8 "You can actually decipher Michael Stipe's mumbling and sing along to such songs as "Gardening at Night" and "Crazy" and know the real lyrics." This attribute is celebrated by REM fans, panned by Dylan fans. Why?

This page gives the following quote,

Village Voice rock critic Tom Carson contended that Stipe's singing evoked the feeling of a child who wakes up in the middle of the night and is galvanized by the pile of clothes left on the floor in the corner, which seems to have metamorphosed into something altogether different in the darkness. But critics often over-emphasize Stipe's mumbling.

Perhaps 30 percent of the lyrics on "Murmur" are intelligible. With the exception of "Radio Free Europe"--which appears in a new version more subtle, less immediate, but no less potent than the original single--it's hard to say what any of the songs are "about." But the phrases that pop out of the haze paint an impressionistic portrait of life in the underground circa the early '80s, lionizing those who chose to live an alternative lifestyle in the face of Reaganism, yuppie greed, and growing cultural intolerance.

Michael Stipes mumbling celebrates the alternative lifestyle in face of ills, but Dylan's is mumbling. Which is the greater artist?

And lastly, this page,

At the center of it all is Stipe's rumbling, nasal baritone. Deliberately slurring his words, he seems to be singing into his sleeve or lurking in the shadows just off mike, rather than dramatically annunciating like an opera singer or a traditional pop crooner. Like Brian Eno (who intellectualized singing nonsense syllables) or the great doo-wop groups (who did it instinctively), Stipe knew that words chosen merely for the way they sound and phrases that suggest something without actually saying anything can be much more powerful than lyrics that try to tell a story, because the listener is free to fill in the blanks with his or her imagination.

Once again, Stipe is acclaimed for his mumbling - and also Brian Eno and the great doo-wop groups. Stipe was able to get his point across, I think Dylan did as well. Don't you?

Lastly, decided to check on my favorite singer, Bono. Nothing huge, but did get some mentions of mumbling lyrics on the intro to songs or in live songs. It's a lyrical device. I had previously searched for what Bono said during different songs (most recently, Last Night On Earth) - and it made me think about what he was saying.

Of note, Google returned 1,708 hits for "Bob Dylan mumbling," 264 hits for "Michael Stipe mumbling" and 308 hits for "Bono mumbling." ("Brian Eno mumbling" - 265; "Singer mumbling" does not return Dylan within the top 10 hits.) Maybe I should dig around more in the Bono results. But I think this maybe explained by "bono u2" returning 110,000 hits while "Michael Stipe REM" returns 24,900 hits.

In conclusion, based on the supporting evidence that Bob Dylan's vocal style matches his subject matter, and that he does have the ability to sing well, coupled with critical acclaim of other mumblers, it can be deducted that Bob Dylan is a great singer.

Later.
:: Matthew 8:55 PM [+]    ::
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First off, in reference to the U2 video for Lemon, I offer the following link to a page about Eadweard Muybridge. Who not only showed that horses do in fact have all legs airborne while running, but also influenced the Lemon video. Very cool.

Later.
:: Matthew 8:46 PM [+]    ::
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An aim conversation based on my ridiculous obsession w/ the word "donk."

sdkfjla: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=donk
sdkfjla: No idea why, but the fifth hit is "Electronic Book: Fifty Rules used by Highly Successful People."
sdkfjla: Odd.
ccampbel78: interesting
ccampbel78: you really get paid to do nothing, huh?
sdkfjla: Yup. I also found a guy who's name is eric garneau (ericgarneau.com) but calls himself Eric Donk.
sdkfjla: I like it.
sdkfjla: Pretty funny stuff there - scroll down for Bert eating a kid.
ccampbel78: bert eating a kid???
sdkfjla: Only one way to see what I mean.
sdkfjla: The Goods
crippled dick hot wax! cornelius, deftones,
peewee, karie kahimi, search, about DONK, email.
www.monitorpop.com/donksites/
sdkfjla: I'm not going to that google hit, but it's there.
ccampbel78: LOL
sdkfjla: Donk was also a computer virus.
sdkfjla: Also a computer game.
sdkfjla: Dirtbike riders are sometimes referred to as dirt donks.
sdkfjla: "Van Donk.. it's my liver and i'll die if I want to..."
sdkfjla: Q: What's your full name?
A: Christopher "Donk" Long.
Q: How did you get the nickname "Donk"?
A: On opening day my first year ('99) it seemed like everyone knew me. They refused to call me Chris. Once they found out I was from Australia they started asking me about Crocodile-Dun-Dee. The name Donk from the movie came up and then they decided that's what they'd call me.
sdkfjla: Great movie.
sdkfjla: "It's ok, I have a donk." "A what?"
sdkfjla: Found a dungeons & dragons character bio of a guy named Donk.
sdkfjla: King Donk at that.
sdkfjla: "members have agreed to attempt the big one, to laugh in the face of danger, to tweak the nose of fear, to cheat death at every turn, and mount a 2 - 3 week Outback Adventure, also known as Donk The Desert."
sdkfjla: "theVoiceofReason.com - Donk-Deer busted for urinating in Mall - ..."
sdkfjla: OK, enough for the moment.
sdkfjla: Though "Donk's Rural Quiz" does look good.
ccampbel78: hallelujah

Later.
:: Matthew 4:33 PM [+]    ::
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Odd stuff that you find links to your page. Star Wars Funny. I end up being the fourth or fifth hit. Hot damn.

So long between posts.

Later.
:: Matthew 9:59 AM [+]    ::
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Few notes:

My tracker showed that someone came from the Pinstripe Destiny Quiz, which was cool. Turns out they are from Fall River, MA. I wonder if it was a Red Sox fan.

I think my roommate nailed it when he said, "Maybe drinking Friday, Saturday and Sunday isn't such a good idea." Monday was a good day to detox.

Go Yankees.

Later.
:: Matthew 10:38 AM [+]    ::
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My roommate, always looking out for the environmentally-interesting story, sent me this today. Follow up page.

Went to the Yankee game last night. Good game because it was low-stress. Soriano dumped the second pitch of the game into the left field bleachers (very close to where Rich, Terrence and I were sitting) and after that the hits just kept on coming. Just like when he was on the Rangers, Sele doesn't really pitch well against the Yankees. Good game for Weaver, 3 runs (2 earned) through 6 1/3.

After the top of the Fifth, Terr's name was on the Jumbotron. Awesome to see - my sister Lauren got it for his graduation.

We took the Yankee Clipper (a NY Waterway boat) from E. 34th Street up to the Stadium. It was excellent, but a long time-commitment for those travelling back to NJ with work the next day. Would be perfect on a Friday night in the summer. Warning: no beer served on the return trip.

Later.
:: Matthew 9:31 AM [+]    ::
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After last Monday's festivities, this certainly is funny.

Later.
:: Matthew 11:49 AM [+]    ::
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Once again I was up between 7am and 8am and forgot to go to my homepage.

Damn, damn, damn.

Later.
:: Matthew 10:42 AM [+]    ::
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Exciting: Googling for "out like jokes" and "leper jokes" both bring up one of my page; at number 34 and number 3, respectively. Hot damn.

Also the only hour that hasn't had a hit is between 7am and 8am. Which I could have done this morning damnit. Seems like such an easy hour to get.

Later.
:: Matthew 11:45 AM [+]    ::
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So now I'm really obsessed. So a survey:

Rosie: lick off the icing, vanilla first, chocolate second. Leaving the chocolate because she likes it better. Throw away the cookie portion. This is apparently also her technique for cupcakes.

Colleen: based on the time of the day with the split being the 12 to 6 line. If you are in the northern hemisphere vanilla is clockwise (on the right), if you are in the southern hemisphere vanilla is counterclockwise (left). So let's say that I'm taking the 7:18pm to Poughkeepsie from Grand Central. Based on my location I would have vanilla on the right. And I would eat the portion approximately where 7pm is, and then work my way around in a clockwise-fashion. This version may be a little more time (pun intended) intensive as it's hard to eat a 1/12th wedge out of a cookie. But it could be well worth the effort.

Carpss: Black first. Then white. No doubt. (not that I got anything against black, but I'm a vanilla guy and I save the best for last) Carpss also mentions that alternate names are "half-moons" and "ying-yangs."

Llook out Llarry: Never had one. Also thinks ying-yangs are a sexual term, possibly somewhere on the female body. However, in opining upon how he might eat a black & white, Llarry stated that "once you go black, you never go back." Hmmm.

Lorene: Not a big fan of the black & white's, however she would eat one side and then the other. Starting with vanilla to save the best for last.

Fuzzster: Dunked in milk.

IM your version to be added to this post.

Later.
:: Matthew 3:08 PM [+]    ::
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Just figured I'd take a quick moment to further obsess about black & white cookies. So damn good. Nothing better than getting on MetroNorth to Poughkeepsie, going home for the weekend, and eating a black & white and having a coffee from Zaro's Bakery.

Seinfeld:

The key to eating a black and white cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet, still, somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie. All our problems would be solved.

And read Question 2 here.

Usually I start with the middle, getting a little bit of both, but then usually end up eating the vanilla first, but only because I like it better. And then end up with chocolate at the end and wonder where I went wrong. I just can't seem to beat it. Maybe, as was suggested in survey, I should eat everything but the middle and keep that perfect taste for the end. That still leaves me with the dilemna of choosing where to start, but then ending may be good enough to not worry about it so much. We'll see.

Later.
:: Matthew 3:01 PM [+]    ::
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Re: the post below:

22% of Total Fat for a 2,000 calorie diet. My boss gave the M&M's to me because she thought I was the only one who didn't mind getting fat in the office.

Later.
:: Matthew 2:20 PM [+]    ::
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Summary of 1.63 oz. bag of M&M's. An(other) ode to How Much Is Inside? [See 4/11/2003 Post]

There appears to only be 5 different colors in the Peanut Butter M&M's, as opposed to 7 in the regular M&M's. The colors that are missing are orange and purple.

Red: 5
Yellow: 2
Green: 3
Blue: 12
Brown: 7 (one smushed)

Blue is the hands down winner, and yellow just loses out to green.

Each one weighs about 0.056 oz., as opposed to regular M&M's which weigh about 0.26 oz. each.

This is just another case of my obsessiveness, but I like it. And they are yummy.

Later.
:: Matthew 2:15 PM [+]    ::
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From the latest Jim Caple article:

I want to sit in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium, watching New York rub out another overmatched opponent while I rub shoulders with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. And when the opposing left fielder takes his spot, I will yell, "You suck!'' loud enough to wake Miller Huggins.

I want to sit at an office cubicle by a window in the magnificent old brick warehouse beyond right field at Camden Yards. And when the game begins and the aroma from Boog Powell's barbecue pit floats into the window, I will tell Lumbergh to stuff his stupid TPS reports, yell at Boog to toss up a pulled pork sandwich and watch the game from the window.

Later.
:: Matthew 1:55 PM [+]    ::
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Where I work:

Desk.

Later.
:: Matthew 11:54 AM [+]    ::
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Leave it to the Ruskies to really freak me out. Miscellaneous is best.

Later.
:: Matthew 4:38 PM [+]    ::
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Muchismas gracias a Frank.

Clearing up the confusion, though not the hangover.

Later.
:: Matthew 3:35 PM [+]    ::
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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

Later.
:: Matthew 12:02 PM [+]    ::
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From Rob Neyer:

There's no decisive moment in a baseball game, until there is one.

Yeah, I like that.

Later.
:: Matthew 2:21 PM [+]    ::
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insouciance \in-SOO-see-unss\ noun

: lighthearted unconcern : nonchalance


Example sentence:
Amanda sauntered casually into the meeting room with an air of insouciance; if she was worried at all about her presentation, she certainly didn't show it.

Did you know?
Don't worry — be insouciant. Perhaps your mind will rest easier if we explain that English speakers learned "insouciance" from the French in the 1700s (and the adjective "insouciant" has been part of our language since the 1800s). The French garnered their term from Latin; its most immediate ancestor was the verb "sollicitare" (meaning "to disturb"), which in turn traces to "sollicitus," the Latin word for "anxious." If it seems to you that "sollicitus" looks a lot like some other English words you've seen, you're right. That root also gave us "solicit" (which now means "to entreat" but which was once used to mean "to fill with concern or anxiety"), "solicitude" (meaning "uneasiness of mind"), and "solicitous" ("showing or expressing concern").

I have no idea when solicit changed from "to fill with concern or anxiety," but it seems like the original definition is much more appropriate.

Later.



:: Matthew 9:40 AM [+]    ::
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Sucks when you check your own weblog - just in case you (or anyone really) updated it.

Later.
:: Matthew 4:59 PM [+]    ::
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Notes on this weekend:

First off, it prompted my first thought of today, which was "I have to go to work today? Are you fucking kidding me?"

*Reason #1 why Fuzzy is the best roommate: has not killed me (or Colleen) for calling him drunk from a bar and yelling in the phone. I have no idea how he knew it was me.
*Skanatra - so hot.
*I really thought I was just drunk, but apparently they do make Jack Daniels in a green-labelled bottle.
*Did not get to drink any of the scotch I gave Dexter for his birthday. D'oh.
*Bad beer ratings: PBR, Miller Lite and then Red Dog (the worst of the worst).
*Reason #2 why Fuzzy is the best roommate: has not threatened to kick me out after I complained loudly that the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival's acronym could be "HAM Festival." This is key.
*No male stripper at Far Side, very nice bonus.
*Did not get drunk and disfigure a teddy bear like the last time.
*Colleen and I saw a painting of "boobies" which had a really good nickname for them, but I can't remember it.
*Was interviewed by Cablevision news. Best thing I could think of to say was "Oh man do I like shishkebob." Damnit. Though off camera, when Colleen declined to be interviewed as well, and the news lady said, "Look like she doesn't love you," I got to drop the retort of "Are you kidding me? She doesn't even like me." Apparently I work better off camera.

And that's all I can think of at the moment, folks.

Later.
:: Matthew 4:46 PM [+]    ::
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In a Monday April 7th post I suggested that I would get, on average 5.43 visitors per day in April. This in fact turned out to be 5.7. Very exciting seeing as not many people actually go through the homepage, but rather to the blog and or pictures (or so I imagine, and so I would like to think).

I was also wondering when the average per day would increase from 4 to 5. However, doing a more detailed calculation, I realized that I'm really at about 3.52 - so I have a ways to go.

Also I was able to calculate a new forcasting equation: y=1.9116e^0.359x, with an R-squared of 0.9944.

Hopefully the 1,000th visitor will now be in late May, as opposed to early July. (Yeah, right.)

Later.
:: Matthew 3:09 PM [+]    ::
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Check out the link that starts with the word "gangly." Hilarious.

Later.
:: Matthew 12:50 PM [+]    ::
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This is one of the sites that we are working on.

Later.
:: Matthew 11:51 AM [+]    ::
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duff112: work sucks a fat one
duff112 signed off at 10:18:58 AM.

Later.
:: Matthew 11:07 AM [+]    ::
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