Insomnia and CD ripping

Yeah, here I am at 6 in the morning writing a blog post. Been sitting up all night trying to get my computer to rip the same track of an audio CD. Every time I end up with errors in different places, so I know it’s not the disc. It’s probably my CD/DVD drive getting ready to fail. It’s over 4 years old, and has seen more than 6 “normal” years worth of use, which puts it well past it’s service life. Probably going to have to retire this old notebook and build a new machine. Been meaning to for a while anyway. I wonder what I did with my old Photoshop install CD… I’ll need it if I do a new build.

*raises hand* I admit that I still have not moved to any of the services like iTunes. Don’t usually want to, or have the bandwidth.

Just so Ronin Drake doesn’t have to remind us, OAC deadline is the end of the month. I hope you guys have something in the works. ... I ... I’m working on it. Gonna have something new for the art board as soon as I finish a personal project I’m working on.

Zombies!

I had to fight the urge to use far too many exclamation points.

So, like many of you here, I’m sure, I have a rather detailed “In Case of Zombies” contingency plan. Mayhap unlike some of you, I have a locker in my basement full of supplies for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Denver is big on zombies. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve secretly wished for a situation like that. We even did a D&D campaign of it, with my friends and I as the characters. I am, however, a sound-minded individual who has the common sense to realize that a zombie apocalypse will, of course, never come to be…

Or will it?

I stumbled across this article a few days back and have been meaning to post it. It ranges at times from hilarious to genuinely frightening. And it gives some real hope to all of the zombie enthusiasts among us.

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day, all. Make sure you do something special for that nice lady that went through all the trouble of raising ya. 

Been Writing Music and Setting Iron

Well, Its about time ol’ DragonMayne finally contributed to the page don’t you think? I think so.

I’ve had so much stuff happen in such a short time that i haven’t had the time to keep up with every thing..so heres a sum up of my current position.

Ive become an IronWorker Apprentice. Ended up with a Job starting out at almost 13.00$ an hour...thats a four dollar raise from what i was making at a place that hadn’t given me a raise in three years. Working in a Union is pretty damn cool....they get you jobs when you’re out of work and the learning experiences are pretty spectacular...i mean...how many people get to build Towers and make a building look like a work of art? But, being 300 feet in the air is till something im getting use to.

Thing that sucks the most right now though is Michigan’s economy is sooo shitty, that work can get scarce some times. And now I’m currently laid off…

So, In the time I’ve been laid off I’ve been writing music like a bandit after your pocket change..lol...Five songs so far...one with lyrics. I never really knew how satisfying singing and playing my own tunes could be..hell i haven’t even been playing for eight months yet and i feel i should have been doing this since i was a kid. Can’t wait to start playing shows..heh..I’ve a long way to go till that time though.

But, being out of work and not getting a call back in over three weeks is getting to me. bills are piling up...and living off of Ramen and PB&J’s isn’t exactly where i was thinking i was going to be when i started my new job. I even picked up extra classes since i didn’t have anything better to do...Setting Iron, is fun as hell...i can only hope that if i ever get the chance to do that part of iron working I’m in better shape than i am in now. Till then I’ll just stick to the Ornamental part of IronWorking...its a lot safer too.

Hopefully..things will start to look up....Least on the money end. I’ll try and post more often....OH!...And a shameless plug to my music.
myspace.com/jrodinternational

Hope you guys like it...and please give feed back....id like to know what you all think...can’t improve with out it.

Peace every one!  

Twenty-One Delay

So it figures that the moment I set a schedule I’d be forced to break it. 

Unfortunately a couple people at work have been out this week, which means I’ve been doing the jobs of three people and thus my lunch and break times, when I usually write, have become temporarily non-existent.

Sorry about the delay, but things should be back on schedule by next week. 

-Quoth the Raven

No fun, my babe, no fun

That opening line by punk titans The Stooges is more than just Iggy bummed out by a girl.  It’s a declaration that life should be a good time and that all things not fun, should be eschewed from your day planner. 

The older I get the more difficult I find it to factor in fun as part of my daily activities.  Sure, there’s entertainment to be had after work and on the weekends, but that still leaves a great deal of time where there’s a distinct absence of joy from the proceedings.

Now maybe this is just “the way of the world” and I’m supposed to: “grow up”, “take my lumps”, “swallow my medicine”, “grin and bear it”, etc.  I’m willing to accept that perhaps it’s me and not the world that’s at fault here. 

Still, I think the reason that creative jobs are coveted by so many people, myself included, is because it gives us a way to not only express ourselves artistically, but also to have some fun in how we interpret our work.

A prime example of such unabashed whimsy popped up in Oak Lawn, Illinois where the city officials tried to curb the frequent flouting of stop signs by adding a little something extra to the standard message.  Unfortunately the Illinois Department of Transportation didn’t see the initiative as beneficial and so this clever and creative idea seems destined to be shut down. 

Are we really this humorless as a society that something as innocuous as a sassy stop sign needs to be quashed?  Heaven forbid someone actually try and have a little fun in their mundane job.  Way to motivate people.

I wish I had a witty or insightful way to end this, but honestly the whole thing just makes me sad.

-Quoth the Raven

Free NIN Coming at Ya!

As a thank you to his fans for their continued support, Trent Reznor is giving away the new Nine Inch Nails album “The Slip” for free. 

You can download the tracks, which come in a variety of different audio formats and include both individual art for each track as well as a PDF booklet, here.

This is a pretty cool gesture and not the sort of thing you see very often.  As far as the music itself is concerned, I’ve only had the opportunity to listen to a couple songs, but I’m liking what I’ve heard.  It reminds me a bit of his earlier work during the Pretty Hate Machine and Broken years.

Thanks for the record Trent!  Hope everyone goes out and grabs a copy.

-Quoth the Raven

Twenty-One Schedule

It looks like my release schedule for Twenty-One has found a good groove.  From here on out look for updates to land late Thursday night or early Friday morning depending on your time zone.

Now that there’s a set release time I won’t update the blog with reminders unless something is going to be delayed.

Thanks for the continued readership.  I’m really glad I was able to revive this one after being away from it for so long.  Hopefully you continue to enjoy it as much as I do.

-Quoth the Raven

adolescent raciness?

I will be the first to admit that I haven’t a clue about current hotties, in any category.  I just don’t follow such things.  However, an article about Miley Cyrus caught my eye because the starlet was so embarrassed about some photos that were posted in Vanity Fair.  “I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed.”

I happen to like artistic photography, so I went looking for the incriminating photos.  *sigh* I hate people.  The two photos, one of Cyrus alone and one with her father, are beautiful!  The half-nude, to me, seems shy and innocent, not sulty and racy.  That anyone should make Cyrus feel embarrassed about the pictures is just shameful.

But that’s my opinion.  What’s yours?