Hi! I'm posting! And it's not about books! Weird, I know.

So, those of you who have been following my Livejournal for a while know that I listen to the Coverville podcast. I haven't talked about it much lately because, well, I haven't talked about much of anything lately. But, today, I'm talking.

The latest episode is one that i enjoyed enough to tell everyone else about it, and try to get you all to listen too. Today was a 'cover story' episode of the podcast, in which Brian (the host) plays covers of or by a single band/artist, instead of a mishmash of a whole lot of unrelated groups. Today was XTC. So, today there were 9 consecutive covers of XTC on the show.

If you're not already a fan of XTC, this probably isn't the introduction to the band that will make you a fan. But, if you already worship at the alter of Andy Partridge's songwriting, then today's episode is one you will definitely enjoy. The show contained 1 track that I've already incorporated into one of my many CoverMix mix tapes, Mandy Moore's cover of "Senses Working Overtime". It also had covers of 2 other songs that I've used, although by different artists than the ones I'd used - "Dear God" and "Making Plans for Nigel".

The "Making Plans for Nigel" cover alone was worth your time for listening to the show. Al Kooper (famous in his own right) makes the track sound like it was written by Danny Elfman, and seriously, how can that be wrong?

There was a cover of "Ten Feet Tall" that, while fine, was more or less a note for note exact copy of the original, so nothing to write home about. But, Joe Jackson's cover of "The Mayor of Simpleton", performed live solo on piano, was mindblowing. I loved it. And this marks the first time I've heard covers of "All You Pretty Girls" and "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" that I was willing to listen to a second time.

I highly recommend it.


No Worries,
Matt

Here's the current list of books read in 2009. Books read since the last update are bolded.

( Books list behind the cut )

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage, by James Bradley

It's hard to know what to say about Flyboys. It's the kind of book that everyone should read, and yet there are things about it that I wish I hadn't read and didn't know, and I don't want to inflict that information on anyone either. Non-fiction, about what happened on a tiny island a few miles from Iwo Jima during WWII. 8 flyboys (pilots and other air-personnel like navigators and radiomen) survived being shot down at various times near the island. 7 parachuted near enough the island to be brought ashore and kept as POWs. 1 - later U.S. president George H. W. Bush - landed far enough out to sea that a nearby American submarine rescued him. The problem is that according to Japanese thought at the time, Flyboys were not POWs, but war criminals, and as such were executed. The fact that 4 of the 7 executed flyboys were then cannibalized (Not because the Japanese were starving, but because their officers thought it would be good for their fighting spirit and fun to do) took it from almost justifiable wartime atrocity to heinous crime beyond the pale. And, this is leaving out all of the really horrendous information.

Aside from the content, the book was written by James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, son of one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers. He's certainly one of the rare few who could write the book with the right perspective, but perspective doesn't make up for quality of narrative. Very balanced - showing both the Japanese and Americans in equally negative lights - and very well researched - full of quotes from those directly and indirectly involved - but a little creaky in places. Recommended to those interested in understanding History to prevent it's mistakes, but not recommended to those with weak stomachs or emotional detachmentability.

No Worries,

Matt

Tags: books, books 2009, meme, reading, updates

Here's the current list of books read. Books read since the last update are bolded.

( Books list behind the cut )

I cannot possibly recommend "Song of the Dodo" highly enough. Death Traps told an important, if morose tale, in a mediocre fashion. Fox Company is astounding all the more for being true, although it was at times difficult keeping the names of the Marines apart. Recommended.


No Worries,

Matt

I need to be working on my NIH grant submission. I don't have nearly the time necessary to finish it. So, naturally, I am posting here.

Here's the current list of books read. Books read since the last update are bolded.

( Books list behind the cut )

All in all, I think the list is going to stall here, if not for the rest of the year, then at least for the foreseeable future. I have an 8 month backlog of issues of Analog, Asimov's, and F&SF to get through, not to mention a 3 week old baby in the house. =) So, I'll be concentrating on short stories for my reading material for the short term.

No Worries,

Matt

So, I know I promised an update containing Holly's Birth story, and that will come, but first - this:

Willow is in a definite Princess phase. She only wants to wear pink. She has maybe 3 or 4 pink outfits, and they are the only things she wears day in and day out. She got a kid's disney princess jewelry set from my dad last year, and over the last 2 months, she's started wearing the rings, earrings (clip-ons), and necklaces constantly. And add on to that her addiction to Barbie movies.

The fine folks at Mattel have released a slew of direct-to-DVD movies 'starring' Barbie, and we accidentally caught part of a commercial for one a few months ago, and ever since, that's all that Willow has wanted to watch. So, we borrowed a few via Netflix, and wound up giving her one as a Christmas present, and now my father just gave her 3 more for her Birthday.

On the whole, the movies aren't all that bad - they're all computer animated, Barbie usually stars as the main character or as herself telling the story, the music in them is better than some movies I've seen, and the content is strictly on the up-and-up - no winking in jokes to the adults watching. But the thing that gets me is the triplets.

In almost every one of these movies, there is a group of three girls around the age of 5 or 6, who play triplets. One is always blonde, and one is always brunette. The third has waffled from red to blonde to tan to whatever in the various movies. And their names are different in each flick. Yet, they are always there!

So, what's the deal????

No Worries,

Matt

Much to post, and as usual, no time or ability to do so.

Most everyone here has heard the news from me via facebook, but for those who haven't, salixmom gave birth to our second beautiful baby girl, Holly Linnea, last week.

Birth story, uch as it is, to follow time permitting.

No Worries,

Matt

Here's the current list of books read, not counting kids books read to Willow, which include a lot of Curious George, various Berenstein Bears, and a hilarious series I'd never heard of about" Jimmy's Boa". Books read since the last update are bolded.

( Books list behind the cut )

I will say that I am cheating just a bit on the above list. I didn't actually finish Tucker Max's "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell". I couldn't stomach it. After 30 pages, I felt like I needed a delousing and a shower. It's not that I have anything against 20 year old frat-boy assholes per se. It's the people who are now 30, and not only believe that they were suave slick Gods when they were 20 year old frat-boy assholes, but are still reveling in those times and acting exactly the same way without having grown up, and revel in their debauchery. Needless to say, I don't recommend the book. otherwise, finished these books about a week or so ago. Basically 3 days after my last books update.

Also, currently partway through 'R is for Ricochet' and David Baldacci's "Last Man Standing", but those are going very slowly, as I promised salixmom I wouldn't get hooked on another book when labor is pending.....

Wow. It's been a while since I've updated my books read list in February. In that time, I've quit once job, taken a 6 week vacation in my pajamas, and started a new job. Apparently, I've also read a handful of books. One (Dolores Claiborne) I listened to as an audiobook, and I Very highly recommend that one in particular. It was read by Frances Sternhagen, known to most people as either Cliff Clavin's mother from Cheers, or Bunny MacDougal (Kyle MacLaclan's mother) from Sex in the City. Very very highly recommended.

Anyway, here's the current list of books read, not counting kids books read to Willow, which include a lot of Curious George, various Berenstein Bears, and a hilarious series I'd never heard of about" Jimmy's Boa". Books read since the last update are bolded.

System of the World, by Neal Stephenson

Shock Wave, by Clive Cussler

Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer, serialized in Analog Science Fiction & Fact

M is for Malice, by Sue Grafton.

N is for Noose, by Sue Grafton.

O is for Outlaw, by Sue Grafton.

P is for Peril, by Sue Grafton.

Q is for Quarry, by Sue Grafton.

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis.

Flood Tide, by Clive Cussler.

Inca Gold, by Clive Cussler.

The Camel Club, by David Baldacci.

The Collectors, by David Baldacci.

Dolores Claiborne, by Stephen King.

Stone Cold, by David Baldacci.

On my plate, I've got a lot of other books waiting to go. I've got 2 Charles Coleman Finlay books about witches fighting as minutemen during the American revolution (1st and 3rd of a series, so I need to get a hold of the second), A book called "I hope they serve beer in hell", several more Sue Graftons, and a trilogy of non-fiction my dad gave me about the campaigns in North Africa and Italy during WWII, plus many others.


No worries.

Matt

Tags: books, books 2009, meme, reading, updates

Regardless of whether you are awake from 4am - 5am because you can't sleep, or because your 36 week pregnant wife can't sleep and is feeling chatty, being awake from 4am - 5 am makes for a sleepy day.

In other news, where is all of my time going? Comparing an average day today to an average day from 5 years ago, my round-trip commute has dropped from 4 hours to 2 hours, and yet I'm not getting any more sleep, not spending any more time in lab, and I certainly don't feel like I'm getting any more quality time at home with my family..... Considering that my life consists of only 4 events any and every day (sleep, commute, lab, and family), where is the rest of my time going?

And on a related note - on any given day back in '05 (to pick a random time when i was commuting from connecticut), I would get up at 6am, be showered dressed and otherwise ready for the day, and walk out the door by 6:45, and then get into lab by 9am. Now, on any given day, I get up at 6am, be showered dressed and otherwise ready for the day, and walk out the door by 8am, and get into lab by 9am.

Am I missing something? How did my morning routine go from 45 minutes to 2 hours? I guess packing lunch in the morning instead of the night before, doing dishes and laundry in the morning, eating breakfast at home instead of walking to the train, and making breakfast and lunch for the wife and kid every morning before leaving really adds up, timewise.

Oh well.

But this brings up another point I wanted to make. I need to lose somewhere in the vicinity of 30lb (~14 kg). I eat a healthy diet, I just eat larger portions than I should, but I don't get enough (read: any) exercise. I really love the idea of running/jogging in the morning before I head to lab, but looking at my timetable above, whuh? Doing a couch-to-5k type deal every morning would just add another 45 minutes to my already crowded mornings. I guess that means doing more of it at night before bed?


For those of you who have gotten into shape - especially anyone with kids - how did you do it??!?!?!?!


No worries,
Matt

So, here;s some updates on the garden,

Front Yard:
The Cherry tree and Peach tree and the Raspberry vine are all fruiting like mad. The cherry has mites, but we hope to get around that. The 4 blueberry bushes all look to be ripe within 2 weeks or so. =) Nothing yet from the Nectarine tree, though some flowers and fruits cropping up on the blackberry bush.

Spent several hours yesterday setting up netting over the berries to keep those thieving birds away. Let's hope it works. Definitely not squirrel proof, or rabbit proof, but I think the birds were the bigger threat regardless. We'll see how it goes.

Back Yard
Planted 4 rows of corn saplings yesterday, and planted seeds enough for 2 more. The tomatoes are all growing like mad, and we even have our first tomato flower, soon to be a yummy fruit! The green beans are all taking off again, and it looks to be a stellar crop this year, same as last. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the snap peas are all dead or dying, though a few gave 1 really fat but short pea pod each. The bell peppers aren't really all that much bigger than when we planted the saplings, so I don't know what's going on there.

We had planted saplings for watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeymoon melons a while back, but cutworms killed all but 1 of them. So, we just planted a bunch more yesterday.

The carrots, like last year, are going apeshit, growing like... well, weeds. Planted 1 enormous broccoli sapling yesterday as well.

The onions and scallions all look good, nothing to report.

Herbs:
The basil is just barely peeking up from the ground. I hope it grows fast, because we're all out of the frozen pesto from last year. Have 2 oregano cuttings from last year that need desperately to get put in the ground.

Finally, Dianella has trays of strawberries germinating in the greenhouse, and pretty soon we'll be planting those in with the fruit bushes out front as a ground cover.

All in all, productive weekend, lots of yummy food. =)

No Worries,
Matt

So, On my 40 mile drive in to work this morning, I saw three different people pulled over for speeding. One of them was the guy right behind me. I typically see 3 or 4 per week. Today is was three just this morning. Looks like the State Troopers are stepping up patrolling of the Northern State Parkway.


I think I need to start allotting 10 more minutes for my commute time from now on, and go just a tad slower.

*sheepish grin*

No worries,
Matt

I don;t usually just post lyrics to a song as an actual post, but it's stuck in my head today, and I think the lyrics are very fitting.

( 'Earn Enough for Us', by XTC )

Actually, now that I've read through the lyrics, it doesn't seem quite as fitting as it did before. Wow, that song's a lot darker than it seems just hearing it. This guy really doesn't like his life....

So, this morning for breakfast, I made myself a homemade Egg McMuffin - a fried egg with an english muffin (raisin), a slice of cheddar, and 2 strips of bacon. I got less than half of it - Willow ate the rest.

So I made another. And another. And another. I think all told, I only had 1 to 1.5 of the 4! that I wound up making. Willow ate all the rest, and still wanted more! This girl is in serious growth spurt mode! ...and she's already the size of a six year old!


Also, today, she drew her first recognizable picture of people, with heads, eyes, nose, mouth, body and feet. Obviously, I'm not talking Picasso here, but I am very impressed with her attention to detail so far.

Recent Willow quote: "Daddy, Mounds bars don't get up and walk away by themselves! They don't have legs!" - which she said while her pregnant Mommy was upset because I had lost the Mounds bars I had just bought for her.

I know there were a few more things I wanted to put here, but for the life of me I can't remember them. oh well. I'll remember later.

No Worries
Matt

5 Books so far, and it's only February 1st. Not bad, even though the first three were 90% read in '08. Oh well. At least I'll have all of February and March to read (explanation to follow in a later post).

Books read in 2009:

System of the World, by Neal Stephenson

Shock Wave, by Clive Cussler

Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer, serialized in Analog Science Fiction & Fact

M is for Malice, by Sue Grafton.

N is for Noose, by Sue Grafton.


No worries.

Matt

Tags: books, books 2009, meme, reading, updates

I've been tagged. Oh well. I'll post a real post at some random point in the future. I'm about to have a lot more free time, so it might be then.

You know the drill. Post 25 things about yourself, then tag a bunch of other people. I'll refrain from tagging others, but here's my 25. Some of these are common knowledge, some of these are things I've never told anyone other than my wife.

1. I was born in Camden, NJ - the armpit of a state that most people consider the armpit of the country.

2. From the age of 10, I knew I was going to college, I knew it was going to be at MIT, and I knew I was going to be an engineer.

3. I didn't get in to MIT - mostly because I nearly failed 2 years of AP Chemistry, a class I loved but was horrible at.

4. I've only had 2 broken bones - I broke a finger when I punched a wall in frustration sophomore year in high school, and Alex Karlowitz broke my nose when he sucker punched me 2 years later. All other injuries I've ever had were inflicted by my older sister.

5. I really hate that I live so far from most of my high school and college friends, and I get really jealous when I see that they are always getting together for good times.

6. I feel incredibly guilty about #5 for 2 reasons - first, it's partly my own damn fault for falling out of touch with them, and 2, I only live about 120 miles away, when my wife lives close to 6,000 miles away from her high school friends. Who the hell am I to whine?

7. I was told that I was lazy so many times when I was a kid that it's become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

8. I love being a dad far more than I ever thought possible.

9. Back in '99/00 I used to have uncontrollable rage/revenge fantasies about killing a certain cousin and his parents. So violent, uncontrollable, and unrelenting it put me in therapy.

10. The only reason I never went through with #9 is that I love his sister and brother far too much to ever do that to them.

11. I only ever asked out my first girlfriend because someone told me that she liked me. I was afraid that she was the first, and possibly the only, girl ever to do so, so I'd better capitalize on it.

12. At a party once in 8th grade, I played a sappy song on a friend's piano while looking off to the side at a girl i was crushing on. Now, purely out of reflex, whenever I play or hear that song, I look off to the side, and still picture her there. But, you know, not in a creepy, stalker-y way, more out of nostalgia.

13. I want 4 kids.

14. I was apparently right handed until my sister chopped off part of my pinky finger when I was 2. I've been a lefty ever since.

15. I wish I was a good enough musician to do it professionally, but I'm not.

16. I know that the fiction I write is publication-quality, but I fear I will never finish a story to send it off.

17. Whether true or not, I have always felt like the black sheep of both my immediate and extended families.

18. Until yesterday, I was very seriously considering leaving bench-work science for a career in bioinformatics and mathematical modeling.

19. Many days i feel like the internet is my only connection to living breathing humans other than my wife and daughter.

20. My favorite childhood memories are of times I was camping with the Boy Scouts.

21. While I love eniged to death, and he did a fabulous job, to this day I feel guilty about not picking Mike Phillips as best man at my wedding.

22. I've been an atheist ever since the first time I sat and thought about the nature of the universe, and what made sense, and what didn't. I wish I could believe, and I've tried, but I can't.

23. My honeymoon consisted of camping, hiking, and canoeing for 2 weeks in West Virginia.

24. Inexplicably, I am afraid of cows. Well, they did charge me on two separate occasions in West Virginia.

25. Even though I don't turn them in or give them to anyone, I still arrange songs for my college marching band as a hobby.

Well, I finally finished the third of the three books I was almost done with when the new year rolled in, and I've got another one totally done since then. I read books B through L of Sue Grafton's alphabet series last year, but got stalled when I couldn't get my hands on 'M'. Well, I finally joined the local public library, and lo and behold, they had 'M is for Malice'! So, I borrowed it (along with some classic R.A. Heinlein I haven't read yet), and tore through it in a few days. I'm already partway through 'N is for Noose', and I've got 'O' through 'S' waiting for me at home.

Books read in 2009:

System of the World, by Neal Stephenson

Shock Wave, by Clive Cussler

Wake, by Robert J. Sawyer, serialized in Analog Science Fiction & Fact

M is for Malice, by Sue Grafton.


No worries.

Matt

Tags: books, books 2009, meme, reading, updates

Another year, another Books Meme. I finished out the year of 2008 with 45 books read, not counting children's books and the like. While it is shy of the book a week I was aiming for, I must console myself with the fact that a) I wrote my thesis and got my PhD. Not to mention the fact that some of these books were well over 400 pages long. Also, I was about 3/4 finished with 3 separate novels by New Years. Along those lines, I have finished 2 of those 3, and will be done with the third shortly. Which brings us to this year's meme.

Books read in 2009:

System of the World, by Neal Stephenson

Shock Wave, by Clive Cussler

And, considering that I had large amounts of commuting time on the Subway in 2008, and that I won't have that at all (presumably) in 2009, I can presume that my reading time, and hence my reading list, for this year will be greatly diminished. We'll see.

No worries.

Matt

Tags: books, books 2009, meme, reading, updates

So, only one new edition to the list of books read in 2008. The second volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, The Confusion. And I formally apologize for spelling Neal as 'Neil' in the last post. Whatever.

I'm a little disappointed that I won't reach 52 books (i.e. a book a week) for the year, but I think that whole 'getting a Ph.D.' thing might just make up for it. Yeah.


( Books read in 2008, an update )

No worries,
Matt

Well, it's been a long time since I've updated the 'books read in 2008' meme, and that's predominantly because it's been a long time since I've read a book. But, now that that pesky little PhD thing is over, I have more time to read, although, no commuting-reading time. That is NT a complaint! *grin*. So, I've got one new novel read, one non-fiction read, and some more children's books to include. And here they are:

Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America, by Gary Wills
Quicksilver, by Neil Stephenson
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
There's a Nightmare in My Closet, by Mercer Mayer

And, let me just say, that Yes, Stephen King, Neil Stephenson is a god. I have known this since I first picked up Cryptonomicon several years ago, and followed it with Snow Crash.

( Books read in 2008, an update )

No worries,
Matt

• No, I'm not dead. I just have little-to no internet access during the day anymore, and my evenings rarely provide time for me to post anymore. Hoping this will change, but we'll see.
  
• Voted this morning at around 8am. Only 3 people in line in front of me, no hassles. Cool.
  
• Started my post-doc this week. Still not finished in old lab, have a bit more work to do, but not much. I just need to figure out how to juggle both positions
  
• New post-doc is in a frog lab, and involves surgically removing testes from male frogs, inducing female frogs to lay eggs, and then combining them in a petri dish.
  
• The frogs we use are more aquatic than amphibious, so they are always very wet when we use them, and therefore very slippery.
  
• I am covered in frog-cum and frog eggs, because one of the females I was 'massaging' eggs out of got a little feisty today.
  
• I wanted to link the above to a clip from the Broken Lizard movie "Beerfest", about manually stimulating frogs, but apparently, youtube has an age-restricted section, and this clip is hidden within it. I don't have a youtube account, so I couldn't access the clip.
  
• If youtube has an adults only section, which is what the above comment basically purports, why isn't this clip in it? (sorta SFW, sorta NSFW, depending on how much imagination you have.)
  
• On a completely unrelated note, I have Halloween photos of Willow, and related story to go along with it, will post sometime this week.
  
• Finally, will be spending Thanksgiving in Ft. Lauderdale Boca Raton, FL this year. anyone going to be in the area Fri-Sun?
  

No worries,
Matt