The Right Stuff

Jon, that website that you sent me to is just what everyone needs to read when they are sending an email. I get so many emails that have little or no punctuation, spelling correction, or even proper word usage. It's amazing that people have just simply forgotten how to write.

Anyhow, enough of my complaining. You don't want to hear that. A bit of news: After nearly a week of downtime, my computer is finally on the mend. I was able to make the backup image of my hard disk drive. That took 30 CDs and let me tell you, it was not fun. Then, one after another, I am in the process of loading them. This is attempt number 3, though. The first two attempts were subverted by some seemingly evil hex that must have been placed on my computer. The first one was a power outage and the second was the anti-keyboard demon inside my computer. For this third attempt, I have decided to put up a defense against the evil hexes cast upon my machine by attaching it to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and attaching a PS/2 keyboard to the machine on a port that is not plagued with problems like the one that my main keyboard is hooked to.

So, wish me luck on this install. I tried, last night, to install Suse Linux 9.0 on my poor computer, but for some reason, while it was installing, it kept freezing up and not letting me do anything. Hehehe. *Needs to try Suse 9.1*

Therefore, my life as of late has gone thusly. It has been one sad tale of computer problem after computer problem. :) But, hopefully, I can get it resolved and gain a few gigabytes in the process.

By the way, Kris, sorry I missed you at the office. I had gone to the store down the street to get a drink.

Anyway, y'all, take it easy. Chao!

An Notice

Jason, let me just refer you to this endearing article.
Yale and TBC. An odd combination.

On, to the Announcement. Ok, not really that much of an Anouncement, but still, I thought I should post it. It looks like I'll not actually be here in town on the Saturday after OCB returns from far lands. Rather, I'll be driving back from the DCI semifinals in Mile High City. I suggest, then, that the festivities/socializing occur on the Saturday following the one I suggested before. Everyone ok with that? If not, please contact the service described here on my post of June 8 @ 2:09 AM by following the directions given in said post.

Talk about a roundabout way to tell someone to take a hike (in more ways than one).

Did anyone, by the by, discover the answer to my Trivia Time querry from a while back? The one about Fett.

10 points to anyone who can name all the subtle references/puns contained in this post.

Laters.

Stuff of the day

Album of the day: The Blues Brothers Soundtrack
Songs of the day: "Shake a Tailfeather" by Ray Charles and "Think" by Aretha Franklin

Mr. Webspace to the Rescue

So, Jarrett, you need some web space, eh? Well, look no further! I think that I could probably donate you 50MB or so to your movie. I'll need to do some research into how to make a page that streams a movie and protects it from being downloaded. Hopefully, that won't be too much of a problem to figure out. I do worry a bit about streaming something as large as 50MB because that is a HUGE stream taking up lots of bandwidth. If there is a way to shrink that down a bit, that would be very helpful. I do have some video editing software on my computer, but my machine is currently undergoing a hard disk change. I'll discuss this with you at the meeting. Hopefully, I will have my maching fully functional in a couple of days and we can get together and see what damage we can do. ;) Gee, this feels more like an email than a public blog. :) Anyhow, yeah, I should be able to host your movie and allow all to view it peacably. If I have any problems, I'll be sure to let you know.

Take it easy!

Okay, folks.

I need somebody with lots of Net Space to put up a page on which I can put my CD version (or a further-reduced version) of Jinglesthula, so that I can link it to the JÞII Blog. I don't want to use the Full DVD Version, 'coz it's huge -- and if it's going to be on the Web, I want a lower-quality product. Unless y'all know how to make something viewable but non-downloadable. I know it's possible, but "Do we have the equipment?" becomes the question. We are talking about 40 or 50 MB, even with the CD version. I suppose that if somebody has film-editing or movie software of any kind, I could reduce it even further - but it's not pretty.

If you visit the Jinglyblog, you'll find I've put up a links table, with a map of Beus Park and Robert's Rules of Order in Brief. And other good stuff. Aren't I clever?
Ask me before you add a link.

Anyhow, I must go.

New Legislation

I am putting in for new legislation that allows for the immediate imprisonment of people who write emails without proper grammar, punctuation, or sentence structure. Who's with me? I mean, seriously, in my work, I get emails from people all over the world and I would bet that a good 90% of them require the use of a Urim and Thummim to decipher.

An email could go something like this: Well i was using ur produt and it jsut stoped working, can u help me i really need 2 get this working by tomorrow and on top of that my grandmother of 91 years died yestrday and wer havin a funrel 4 her and i hve thee cats and a pig and 4 horses, they dont need much for food just some hay and oats evry once in a while, and then this gy came up 2 me and sed can u tell me what time it is and i told him to take a hike and then he just pushed me over and i fell on my nose and it turned inside out, i was running up and down screeming becuz my noz was inside out, but then the firemen cam and told me 2 be still and thei took a rok out of my noz, so u see i need u too help me with my program, my license code expird 7 days.

Now, I gave you all the luxury of SPACES between the words. Somepeopledon'tevendothat. It's really annoying. And whatever happened to the proper usage of it's/its? And since when did the word macros (plural of macro) have and apostrophe in it (macro's)? I don't claim to be perfect in my selection of verbiage, but at least I know how to write. (Do not complain about the preceeding two sentences starting with 'and.' That is acceptable under certain circumstances.) What's absolutely amazing about this whole thing is that I can receive an email like the one modeled above from a PROFESSIONAL person. This is not email from some trailer-trash person living in a van down by the river. No, this person might very well work for an insurance sales office, or a hospital. How do people get hired with these types of writing styles? I was always taught that when you are in a professional environment, you should always write in a professional manner, using complete sentences and proper punctuation and spelling. I can maybe understand bad grammar from someone who doesn't really know English, but I get this type of stuff from people in the Queen's England. What's up with that? It's just really annoying to me. I don't like to rant constantly about life because it's mostly good, but if there was ever a pet peeve of mine, this would be it. I think that our dependence on instant messaging and cell phone text messaging has led us into a spiraling vortex of writing inabilities. Yes, I use instant messenger and I must admit that my grammar and punctuation isn't very proper in that forum, but when I am conversing with someone in a professional manner, I make sure that my grammar, punctuation and spelling are as close to 100% as they can be. Quick emails with a small instruction on meeting times or something related, I can excuse for their poor grammar, but descriptions of problems and requests for service? Sorry, it just makes me not want to help these people because I may boggle them with my proper English.

Anyhow, I'm done venting... I think we should do something about this. Any ideas? ;)

I shall see you all later! ;)

THE MEETING IS AT NOON. NOON. NOON.

So the meeting is Saturday at noon, at Beus Park. Lunch is at 1 pm, but THE MEETING IS AT NOON! So be there, in your seat, by 11:55.
Ben, come along when you can; there will be food for you.
A map to the park (it really is right by Weber State) is available on the Jinglyblog, on a recent post.
THE MEETING IS AT NOON.
THE MEETING IS AT NOON.
Any Questions? Email, call, or visit my house.

Question

Ben, how do you say "chicken" in French? I refer to the live animal, rather than cooked poultry (In Spanish, Callena (or Gallena) rather than Pollo). How would you say it as a nickname?

Ping pong

I'm all for ping-pong. I'll even bring my very own paddle, since I was so much into it at one time that I bought one. What day is that anyway? When are all y'all leaving to go visit my second country of France? I wish I could go. And, Jon, before you go, remember to talk to be about buying that one comic book... er... graphic novel, ok?

So...

I meant to mention in my previous post:
I had a very weird dream -- not as detailed as Ben's usually are, though. What I remember is that I was, I guess, a dwarf; only I was just as tall as I am right now. So I was a really tall dwarf. And I and my dwarf associates (of ordinary dwarf height) were trying to defend our Mountain Fortress (something like Erebor in The Hobbit, with the big wall on the one side) against an onslaught of Trolls. Not goblins, not Orcs, Trolls. Which is a Scandinavian thing. I was fighting them with a 2+1/2 ft. long 3/4 inch thick dowel. (Which is something I have, and kept for a long time in the corner with my staves and swords.) And the Trolls didn't look like Orcs in the movie, or in any of the Illustrations I've seen for LOTR books, or for that matter any other Orc, Goblin, or Troll illustrations I've seen. They looked like the scary people you see riding the Public Bus System sometimes. It was on the whole kind of cool. I mean, I never get to beat people with a stick in real life. The vast majority (99%) of the time, I don't even want to.

Also an Idea: Rock-concert lighting for the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. I think it would be cool.

Hard(er) drives

The life of a hard drive is one that would make most dizzy. (Pun intended) They spend their existence spinning at a very high speed, reading and writing data. Sometimes, things go wrong with them. This is the case with my venerable laptop machine. The hard disk drive in the poor thing is simply going out. I have discovered this due to some problems that I have encountered lately with disk access and sounds the device is making. I'm writing this here to inform anyone who reads this as to the symptoms of a failing hard disk drive (hereafter referred to as HDD.)

Clicking and/or grinding sounds emanating from the disk (more than normal disk access sounds) - This indicates that there is something potentially wrong with the motor or the bearings in which the spindle rotates.

Slower than normal program launch/recovery. For instance, your operating system may start up slower than normal. Programs may also suffer some performance hindering. For me, this is most noticeable when I launch a program, switch the focus to another program, and then switch back. Normally, this should be a nearly instantaneous process, but with my machine, it has been getting very slow. This could be due to the fact that since the HDD is not spinning as fast as it should, the data access time for the disk is actually increased.

Hard drive temperature fluctuations, especially in the positive direction. This could indicate friction in the drive housing. Do not attempt to open the disk case as you WILL damage the HDD. Hard drives are meant to operate in very exacting conditions. Even so much as a particle of smoke on the disk platter surface could crash the head.

Drive head crash. This is the worst thing that can happen to your HDD. What happens here is when the read/write heads come into contact with the disk surface. Normally, they ride on a cushion of air a very small distance from the platter. If the heads come into contact with the surface of the disk, they scratch the disk and destroy the data on the disk. Data in the path of the crash are usually unrecoverable.

Anyhow, these are some of the things to look out for when dealing with a used HDD. Since mine has been going out, I have done some research and decided to post what I have learned. I knew some of it already, but stuff like the clicking that I described, I had no idea about. Of course, when my HDD decided to start clicking, it didn't take me very long to realize that something was wrong. :) TTFN.

Ah ha ha!

Actually, only SCUBA and LASER (of Jon's list) are 'acronyms' as such. An acronym is an abbreviation that forms a pronounceable word. The others are merely abbreviations, or what the word is (it's a lot like acronym) that I can't remember.

Oh, I looked it up:
A&W is the initials of the last names of the guys who founded it, Allen and Wright.

But I think it should be Awl and Widget. Or Algae and Weeds. Or... Asterisk and Whatnot.
Of course, to an extent, those are my initials too.

Okay, I'm wrong about acronym. Odd.

Aardvark and Wildebeast? Arsenal and Warcry? Air and Water?

Well, I really don't know what A&W stands for. But that's where the pictures were taken Jarrett. We were trying to refuel after another round of penultimate frisbee. That was Monday long about 2pm or so in the afternoon.

The Legend of Johnny Lingo. Hmm. It had its moments. Overall it seemed a bit amateurish, but still a fun flick to see. And it definitely fit with the island theme of Beth's surprise birthday party. Thanks again one and everyone who came. I'll be posting the pics here later.

Also, I propose an amendment/adendum/addition/adrenaline to the proposed ToasT. Er... party. After the swim and BBQ, anyone and everyone who so wishes to may come over to my flat for a starparty/ping-pong challenge/tounament (yes, I double checked the spelling on tounament). We've got a nice telescope (bigger than myself) which should be fun if the skies are clear that night, and a garage with plenty of space for singles, doubles, or lightning ping-pong. Sorry, I don't have the original Pong here. Though my nuncle does have a Commodore 64. I remember he mentioned that he had one, and then I saw the box when I was helping him move the other while. Tangent. Snap. Yeah, just in case some people are busy during the day or don't feel inclined to ascend the incline or are maybe hydrophobic (fear of water, not rabid). Then they can still join in on the socializingness. Well.

TTFN, FFY, RNA, NRA, USB, FTP, ATST, SCUBA, LASER, and various other acronyms.

Laters

HEEEEELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

(He says in a very high pitched voice with a tinge of British accent)
It's been a long time!!! Sorry!
How is everyone? I'm fine
I move on July 2nd(friday).
Anyone willing to help, let me know. (there will be free pizza, and later, spanish rice!mmmmmmmmm)
email me at jeff(dot)johnson(at)gmail(dot)com
to let me know if you can make it!!
PS In the mood for the inane of band geeks? need a break from the solidarity of your life? completely bored because of having no band hall randomness?
Visit THE TALKING BAND HALL!!! website!!

By the way! I'm offending that I wasn't invited to the Lena farewell party!
jk, I understand!!hehe!!rotflmbo!!!

<----- Thataway! ----->

1. That's an excellent picture of Ben. Vive le Roi.
2. Where, When, what, why, did those pics come from?
Thank you Jon for your C:\Reply (anybody remember that vintage? a good year). C:\ness is a virtue. Or even more old-fashioneder, C> ness.

a thing on the screen, a foul-mouth, an angry Gypsy woman

a cursor

random blank verse by Jarrett.
Here's A Link of funny photo-shop work. You might not get it if you haven't seen any Jane Austen flicks.

And I think "Darth Vader loves a Country Dance" is going to be my motto.
Oh, Jason -- slow Waltz, or the fast Viennese?
I'M afraid of Virginia Woolf! ME!

if we shadows have offended,
think but this, and all is mended:
that you have but slumbered here
while this blog-post did appear;
and this weak and idle theme
no more yielding, but a dream....
.......
Else the Puck a liar call;
So Goodnight unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends
and Jarrett shall restore amends.

Actually

I didn't check it yesterday. And yeah, I think I'll be attending the meetin'

Great farewell for the Lena. Cory has a drinking problem. Well, at least as far as Root Beer is concerned. He can't get enough of the stuff.






I morgen, as it were.

And I'm looking forward to about a month from now. Yippee. That's when we all become a flying circus for 10+ hours. After that, its the traveling circus. Excitement! Great feats! Acceptable feets! High-wired fun and entertainment! Music! Magic! Melodrama! All coming soon.

Thank you Cory for prompt reply -- does no one else check the Blog on Mondays?
Tenderly I remain, Cableman Jorge.

Huzzah.

Thank you Jon for the jinglylink. One of these days, somebody's going to have to show me how to do things to my blog, which I don't know how to do. Now --
take your Jedi weapon. Strike me down with it -- and your journey to the dark side will be complete.
Wait, I mean, Now --
Take your jinglylink. Use it (there's new info) -- and "Journey" will be completely to the Dark Side. Maybe they already are, I don't know.
But do, visit the JÞII blog...for important meeting info.

Oh, and I saw the film 'Secondhand Lions' last night. Quite enjoyable.

This just in:

The JDA (Jingles Direct Access) link just went live. And it was small enough that it even made the top of the list. 's'right folks! We've got a new #1 link on the charts! Try: it out.

Also, some stuff. It's fun.

And if you think this is geeky/cool, check this out.

More for the blog at a later date and/or time.

A very subtle request

After much pain and deliberation (meetings lasting longer than 7 minutes), a request has been put in for a link in the sidebar to this website. Could this be added?

tx.

A Queer Idea

And by that I mean 'odd.' I don't give up using good words just because they're associated with obnoxious people.

Anyhow, the thought is this: What if the Emperor were a Surfer-Dude?
(some of these are direct paraphrases, some not-so-direct, it's been awhile since I last saw ROTJ.)

"Dude, Vader-meister, He'll turn to the dark side. I've like, forseen it."
"Righteous! Now -- Release your hatred, man."
"Dude, dig the power of this totally jammin' battle station."
"Now you're gonna see your pitiful rebellion totally wipe out."

I just thought I would prove to you all again how crazy I am.

Jon's deplorable math skills

Jon. 14, 18, 38, 31. Where the heck did you get those other numbers? I mean, 25, 27, 25, 6? I don't know. Either way, I'm all for the Crystal Springs idea. I'll not be able to make the Ben Lomond climb (I have been already about 4 times) because of work. But what else is new?

Never Mind... :)

Howdy all! I'm sure y'all are doing great this fine summer afternoon (or morning, or evening, or winter, spring, or fall for all I know.) Anyhow, yeah, I mentioned in a prior post that I would be taking a bit of a jaunt down to Manti this weekend. Well, I must inform you that I am not. However, I am not completely full of bad news. I must report that I learned to waltz the other night. Yeah, I feel pretty good about that. Now, it's off to practice this new-found ability.

So, Jon, are you getting a nice portable video player? Is that what you're saying? I think they're pretty cool. Kind of expensive though. Well, for me, everything is expensive. Especially car stuff. Geez! A wheel bearing cost me $225 to install. But, the good news is that now, riding in my Saturn (Lizzy), you can have a normal conversation without shouting over the tire dragging on the road. :)

Talk at y'all later! Ben, I'm going to have to relearn how to do the @bash puzzles again. I seriously can't figure it out. Perhaps if I read the book...

TTFN

Song of the day: Breakout by Swing Out Sister
Website of the day: YetiSports

I propose a toast.

And by "toast" I mean "party."

I was thinking of hiking Ben Lomond on the saturday after OCB returns from Germany. We can meet at the little parking lot at the top of North Ogden Divide where the trailhead is about 7:30am and leave about 8am. I'll provide donuts and juice to any and all who come, but eat a good breakfast first so you don't die. The hike takes about 5 or 6 hours if I remember right, so bring sunscreen, plenty of water, and lunch to eat at the summit. Trail snax are also a good thing to have to keep the ol' energy up. After we get back from that, we can all retire to Crystal Hot Springs (lap pool, hot tubs, mineral pool, water slides, and an area for barbeque I think - I'll have to call and ask) for an evening of fun and relaxing. That way people who don't want to do the hike can still join in on the fun. I can call and ask them about group rates. The barbeque at the water park would be a bring your own meat and another item to share deal (like chips, drink, ice, salad, buns, ketchup, mustard, kim-chi, etc.)

Well, whaddayasay, all? Sound like a plan? Tell all your friends. Tell Montenegro. Tell Marshie. Tell, William. Tell-Emitry? Tell me off if I'm too random. Then tell yourself a joke. Brightens the day, you know.

And Ben, I tried the @bash and got the first 2 words, but it's been too long and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right for the third one. I got 25,27,25,6. Does that sound right? Or is my math skills off?


Peace

The Future is almost here

And it's about time. Check the links. Out.

To be released near the end of this year.

Tom's look at the current box.

And an independent review.

Well, Circuit City sells the 320 and the RCA Lyra 2780, but for now I'm going to go with the 320.

Movie of the while: How to Steal a Million

Hey Mister Grumpygills!

All right! I'll do the @bash. And by the way to go on the prospects for Street. 'S'sweet.

Jason, I'm waiting to hear from my boss on whether I can take friday off and go with. I'd love to. Are Tim and Amy going? And Mike and Ben? I'm glad to hear about the Tiki torches. I'm afraid Christmas lights are a bit out of the question without a noisy generator nearby, which the denizens of the park would probably not enjoy. As for the lawn gnome, why not just bring your laptop and there can be a GNOME there instead. That is, if you still have your partition. I have something for you and andrew that I'll give you tonight, presuming that I'll see the both of y'all at OCB. It's a surprize, so I dasn't say more now. After all, the ears have walls.

Well, that's it for a whiles. 'cept that I broke my cell phone last night when I dropped my alarm clock/radio on it. Just cracked the faceplate, that is. Oh well. These things do happen you know.

Trivia time: Who was the only person in the Star Wars saga to refer to Boba Fett as a twerp? Post responses or just say them (preferably when someone is around to hear).

Ok then. Bye.

Often regrettable

I can't ask for saturday off, so there's no way that I can go to Manti. Sorry, I wish I wish I could go.

One more time...

Okay, if anyone is interested, I made an announcement on Sunday night or Monday, regarding the Manti Pageant. I don't know if anyone has read it, but I am hoping to get a group of all y'all together to go down to it Friday and Saturday. I think it would be really cool. If you are interested, either send me an email (j s c h i l l [at] w i n t o o l s [dot] c o m) or post a blog about it. It's a lot of fun and I think that you would enjoy it. Again, I appologize for not posting something a week or so ago.

Chao!!

News and Riddles

The top guy at Street Magazine really liked my story and wanted to publish it... however, it may be too long to make it in the issue that will be published in the next couple weeks. It is always a possibility and he said to keep submitting. He was surprised at the depth and wisdom to come from one as young as I am. I was, shall we say, flattered.
Onto the riddles. I decided today, whilst waiting for my sister to get done with her orthodontist appointment, to reprise @bash. Now, I know that in my hayday I wrote 8 @bashes and NOONE took the time to decipher them only to read them and think, "Oh, that's nice." So, I have a new one.

Tut, tut

Sum guy
Really was
Guiding Egypt to home
Aptly


Ok, so, now's your chance, all of those of you that have the key to the lock can open it up and get the third and mysterious word. Oh, and if y'all think you can just read it and think, "Oh, that's nice" then I'm just gonna go pout in a corner and never share my riddles with you again. I mean, I thought this was something people liked doing, right? And I hope that all you slowpokes out there are smart enough to catch the sarcasm spattered all over the second part of the post.

Later scum

I overmorgen

That's how it's said in the land of the Golden Summer, anyhow. At least, that's what my title would've been a few hours ago. As it is, I'm just getting done with the main rush of business for the evening, and decided to blog whilst I'm zipping along at 44kbps. More like Trial-up if you ask me.

Soooo.... today I had good fare and plenty of it at my sis' house. My grandparents who live down the street, and my other sis who lives with them came over as well. Currently I'm sitting in the Prancing Pony with Strider & co. Frodo has just read Mithrandir's belated (courtesy Barliman) letter. Hopefully I won't be past Khazad-dum before Hof. I hope to enjoy the trip on the trip, if you catch my meaning. And if you don't, then just remember what they told you: keep your eye on the ball. Um... or the meaning, if that's what you're trying to catch.

Well, if no one has yet tried out Scorched3D, I have to plug it again and say that I'll doubtless be trajector-izing some tomorrow at work. Ben, when do you work? Maybe I'll see you @IM. Way 2 go on the trip and the letter. Although I have to say that I hope your southern accent wears off soon. Unless you plan on wearing no shirt or shoes and for pants wearing overalls with one strap hanging down and a big felt hat and carrying a shotgun. Or something. Ok, well, I guess it's the acute minority of the South that fit that bill, but still... that's what I guess the accent conjurs in my pate. Well, I have plenty more to say, but not enough mental reserve to correctly compose it here at this time. Correctly. Mmm. Reminds me of Caroll's caterpillar. WHO R U? Which gives us BB||!BB, leading us then to ph34r th3 cu73 0n35. rua n1nj4 2? 2 much l33t/g33k5p33k 1 th1nk. Although I though that 323k137 was clever. If indeed that's how it's spelt. (No use crying over spelled milk?) How I love free association. It's often a very liberating form of humor.

If I ever did an arrangement of Pictures @ an Exhibition, I think I'd change it up quite a bit and call it Forgery Gallery or something like that. And I did decide to use either Bydlo or Ballet for Tian's boyhood antics (he being the main character of the first segment of my starry saga). Which reminds me, what do you get when you mix Mussorgsky and Williams? Why, Motion Pictures at an Exhibition, of course. (Jabba Yaga, the Hutt on Han's Legs? A chart that would crush any normal smuggler's extremities.)

And, to return in closing to where I began, may I just say this: Jeg glaeder mig til det. Og det hele.

Peace

PS. Indescision still on which jukebox to go for. Archos or RCA?

Sea Quail

I'm am so looking forward to the commencement of Jinglesthula 2 in the next week or so. Oh, and everyone, hello. I'm journeyed far and wide, from the Great Salt Lake to the Atlantic Ocean and back again and now I find my self blogging. Go figure. I've replaced Strongbad as my second voice. After spending a week in the south, a southerner's accent has crept in and taken over. Too bad Strongbad. Oh, speaking of, his last e-mail was the most quotable e-mail I've seen in a long time. Also, he made that elusive homage to the e-mail I sent him months ago with the reference to a motorcycle. Way to go me! Ok, I'm outa here. I'm gonna blog the events of my trip with links included, so go ahead and check that out. E-mail me if'n ya wanna chat er something. I'm all about hanging out now that I've been gone for a whole week. Laters

Montjoie!

Which, in case you were wondering, was Charlemagne's batttle-cry. Kind of a Rallying-Cry, too, because his troops used it as well.

The reason for my elation, you ask? I finally have a good job. I am, as a matter of fact, now an employee of the Deseret Book company. In Layton. Yes, I get a discount; No, I can't share it. Sorry!

So, I begin my workingness today with a good deal of gusto.
And, with help from my parents, I paid in the last of the Europe-Tour Money -- and saw Scott Sneddon's house. Very interesting.

(It's not Gandalf - it's Saint George.)
Gesundheit!

It's That Time of Year Again...

Yes, it has come to the month of June. We all know what that means: Manti Pageant. I appologize for not reminding you all about this earlier, but I have been very preoccupied myself and so some things have fallen onto the back burners. But, Kristin, being the wonderful person she is has put me up to the task of reminding any and all wishing to make the trek this Friday and Saturday to Manti, Utah to see the Mormon Miracle Pageant. Price: Only the price of gas and having to be stuck in the car with your best friends for some two hours or so each way. But, to be safe, bring ten bucks to buy food in the evening and then again in the morning. Jon, if you're coming, you should provide the lawn gnome; I've got the tiki torches covered. If any of you have any questions, please contact me at j s c h i l l [in the house of] w i n t o o l s [dot operator] command prompt. The dates that I am available are this Friday (18 June) and Saturday (19 June). It is an overnight thing seeing as the pageant gets over about 11:30pm. Please feel free to check out pictures of last year's adventure.

TTFN. I hope we can get a nice group together this year to go down to this shindig. It's a lot of fun. Again, sorry for the short notice.

JDS

Hot potato, hot potato, hot potato...

Etc.

That's how I have felt the past 2 weeks with having to transfer my work phone from me to my coworkers and back every single day instead of once a week. Our other phone was down - THAT'S why. Oh, wait... you didn't ask why. Well, now you know anyways. And today, I worked a monster 22 hour shift. A record, for me. Too bad I only get paid for 15 1/2 hours of it. Still, that's not too shabby.

Today I got my line of credit limit raised. Woo who. I've heard that it's a good idea to make use of a line of credit as you go along (always making sure to pay it back, of course) so that you can build your credit history. That way when I apply for a house mortgage I'll be able to get one. It also has the added benefit that the biggest check I've ever written in my life won't bounce when it gets cashed here in the next few days. 'sright, kids! I wrote out a check for the balance due on the trip to Europe this summer with OCB. I'm looking very very much forward to it. I only hope that the A70 and the Lyra work swimmingly together so's I can be a digi-mobile shutterbug there. I read a bit of Kapitel 1. the other day. I don't think it's so much effort that's going to be the problem, but finding time - or chosing to use my spare time for that purpose, anyway.

Speaking of which, I'm going to really push to get the TWCD done within the next couple of weeks. I think it's almost there. I just have to record the soundtracks and fix the timing. Looking also forward to that day when I can publish that thing - like a year and a half now... sheesh.

Ok, well, now I'm off to wash a car and pick some fresh peas from our garden. Good times? Too right!

Also, then. Scorched3D on download.com. Check it. Out. If you liked "the mother of all games" then you will love this one. And get this: you can play as two different Hoth guns, or an ATST. Plus all the usual fare: Apache, Bradley, Hummer, Warthog, SCUD, Patriot, some SAM vehicles... well, there are about 50. And there's one of Kenny, and Death, and other fun stuff.

Peace

Oh Yes Indeed

Because it's purpose wasn't originally to control things, but to prevent passengers and driver from being dashed (splashed) with mud. Probably originally a carriage term.
If you want to know how I find this stuff out -- Well, it doesn't show the etymology, but This might help.

I think it depends on the starship, too. The Enterprise is probably Automatic Trans; but an X-Wing has got to be Standard. And I'm willing to bet that though we didn't see it, Darth Vader had detail work and a loud muffler on his TIE fighter. Obi-Wan's ship in Episode II is probably a stick as well -- possibly, what with the outside-ring-thing, a bit like driving a car that switches back and forth into 4WD.

Couldn't even tell you on the podracers - probably depends on the driver's tastes.

My starships are all Standard.

I'll bet Captain Kirk would have loved to direct the enterprise from his dashboard. Probably an old T-Bird or a Camaro or something.

Which reminds me:
Why do spies insist on driving such cool cars? I mean, if I were just walking down the street and saw a car like that, I would say, "look, there goes a spy." They should make their modifications on more normal cars.
But, James Bond would never drive a 1985 Chevy Celebrity. Or even a mid-90's Nissan Sentra for that matter. Q might. But Q would probably drive an old Volvo Wagon. Wouldn't it bet great to have a Volvo Wagon that could fly, and shoot missiles, and drop Oil Slicks at the cars behind you?
I guess if your Volvo was old enough, you might get Oil Slicks.
Or, even better - an old Woody, a surfer's station wagon. No one would expect THAT to be a spy car.

Anyway...
And there'd be a lot less throwing-about of the crew if they had seatbelts. It makes sense to me.

Driver's Ed cars should be built with Passenger-Side ejection seats.

<----- Back to Dashboard

All I need to go back to my dashboard is my car key. Just out of curiosity, have you ever wondered where the term dashboard came from? I just barely thought of that. Dashboard--a board that you dash against something, like a tree or a buffalo? How about something that you grab onto when you dash someplace? I've done that second one! Now, some cars come built with "Oh Crap" handles built into the dashboard for just such occasions. Seriously, why do we call them dashboards? A dashboard in the sense of the Internet and computing is a place where you have controls for something (gee, the same as in a car), but then there's also a Control Panel, which is what is common to both Windows and Linux operating systems. (Sorry, a little Geek-ese there.) And besides that, if I were in one of those sci-fi movies controlling a starship and I went to the control room, I would walk up to a control panel, not a dashboard. I can just see it now: The USS Second-prize blasting its way through the black abyss of space with her captain controlling her from behind the dashboard of his 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity. Hey, it has all the controls needed for starship operation: speedometer, gas gage, warp speed selection indicator (PRNDL) and direction control. Hmmm. I wonder if starships have a neutral setting... ...or for that matter if they are manual or automatic transmission. NO!! Even the USS Second-prize would have a control panel rather than a dashboard. It's more sexy to say "Control Panel" than "Dashboard."

Anyhow, I was just wondering about that. If any of you have a solution for me in my wondering state of stupor, please help me out.

Come to think of it, that thing that Data sits behind on Star Trek TNG looks suspiciously like a dashboard...

And where the heck are the seatbelts in the Enterprize? Ralph Nader would have a heyday with that design. So unsafe to shoot through space at multiple warp speeds with no passive restraint system.

TTFN

Jinglyblog?

That's either offensive or a great way of putting it - we'll have to see.

Which reminds me of Han Solo: "Interesting girl - either I'm beginning to like her, or I'm gonna kill her." And it's clever dialogue like that we missed in Episodes One and Two. Though they have their moments, especially Obi-Wan in episode two.

"We were trying to rescue you..."
"Good job!"

Which gives me a thought to put on another blog far, far away.

Nice save!

And the crowd goes wild... with one lone exception who simply wears a perplexing smile. What a weird place for a gravity experience. I mean, all I did was stand there and continue to hold on to the handrail. Talk about being in the wrong reality at the right time.

Ok, so that's my random bit of random for today.

Did you know that there are two nerve pathways from each eye to the brain? The main pathway (commonly called the optic nerve) goes directly to the visual cortex and deals with color, shape, recognition, etc. The second pathway goes to the brain stem, then continues to a place just above the visual cortex. It deals mainly with contrast and movement and is used mostly for reflexes and such. It is more developed in animals than in us humans. Interestingly enough, people who have had their primary nerve pathway damaged can be 100% blind, but can still use this secondary pathway to sense movement. This strange condition is known as blindsight. The person can see, even though they cannot see. What fun stuff you learn on NOVA.

And even weirder than that, when people have the connection between the emotion center and the visual centers of the brain damaged they develop a strange dilusional condition where they believe that people and places they are familiar with are not the real thing, but imposters. A man with this condition thought that his parents were people that looked exactly like his parents, that his dog was not his dog, but rather another dog that looked exactly the same, and even that his appartment was not his own. And even trippier - when he looked in the mirror, he believed that he was not himself, but a look-alike. When this happened he would refer to himself in third-person. The condition corrects itself over time, which is nice for those who suffer from it (it is usually the result of a head injury).

I'll be adding people to the jinglyblog today. Enjoy.

I am so smart, s-m-r-t, I mean s-m-a-r-t

I laughed quite a lot at your great link Jason. Hillarious.

Everyone, please come and visit the Jingles planning blog. Feel free to add your suggestions and make yourselves available for filming in about four or five more weeks.

Okay. I just thought I should put some words here today.

This. Hi.

How to have fun

...in a movie theatre.

Movie theatres are warm, dark places generally filled with lots of people engaged in a mindless stupor. Gee, sounds to me like the only thing that will have fun in them is a colony of mold spores. If you suffer from this Lack-of-Fun syndrome, please check out the website of the day: Everything not to do in ROTK. For the rest of you who may not suffer from the boredom bug in movie theatres, which, I might add, includes me (I like going to movie theatres), you could get some good ideas for the next time you patronize the movie theatre establishment for your afternoon or evening entertainment.

TTFN.

Welcome to the Band Blog

Should you have a complaint about the Blog, feel free to make use of our newly created Band Geeks Blog Customer Complaint Line by calling 555-1234. Our Customer Complaint Line is staffed by 37 friendly volunteers. If you call the Complaint Line and all 37 volunteers are busy, please be patient, and the next available volunteer will take your call as soon as possible. We appologize for any delays.

This

is what happens at this time of day.


Ok, so um... my brain is buzzy from taking so many phone calls for work. Crazy peoples.

Favorite music of the while:

La Suerte De Los Tontos (Dumb Luck?)
And... pretty much all the music from Guys and Dolls, especially
Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat

Mistake of the day:
Forgetting the xylophone for the OCB concert. (where was everybody?)

Did you ever hear the one about the 3 deep holes?

Well, well, well

And that concludes my reader nerve abrasion for the day.


Peace

JINGLESÞULA II!

Come Visit the planning blog!

Also: Welsh Poet of the Day:
Dylan Thomas

Movie of the Day:
Much Ado About Nothing

One of the finer installments in "Bill and Ken's Excellent Adventure" (Bill Shakespeare, Ken Branagh).

Ahoi hoi!

Okey Dokey now peoples. I never intended there to be any snafu about the title of "the film" (as it shall be refered to from this point forward). "the film"'s original title was meant as a joke on the ridiculous titles of the ever popular "Star Wars" saga. I just thought to myself "self: why don't you satirically point out the poor-ness of George Lucas' title-ing abilities?" But, I do think the "the film" blog is a great way to get communication going. Jarrett, I may consider your suggestion, but don't count on it until I've mulled it over a good deal. You can reach me at:

s p i e l _ f a n [at] yeaoooozzzzzaaaaaaaa [dot] comedy camp

or yahoo works too.

I think all suggestions were great and I hope you have a great drunk immitation Jarrett. I also thought it would be funny to create a prologue a la Lord of the Rings. I dunno, just something to think about. If anyone else has a funny idea occur to them, feel free to share it and we may haps will use it in "the film"

Panther vs. The World

Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, in this corner we have the Panther taking on his opponent The World, better known as Microsoft. It appears that while Panther has some great moves, The World is just too big to tame. Ouch! That left hook looked like it hurt. Panther tries to get a piece of the action, but it just seems that it's not his piece of pie. Everytime Panther tries something, MS just grabs him and sits on him pinning him to the mat and hurting him badly.

Yeah, it's not a Panther's world. It seems that everything out there is written for Microsoft Internet Explorer. Yeah, that includes WildCat Mail, unfortunately. I haven't found a browser that works properly with it except MSIE. However you could try a new browser out there called MyIE2. (three double-Us [dot] myie2 [dot] commandos.) This might work for you if you're using a Windows machine. It's just kind of a confusing browser to use. (lots of buttons) But it does look curiously similar to the Konqueror browser on the KDE desktop for Linux. ;) If you're using a Mac, well, good luck. You have, well, Internet Explorer and hmmmm, Safari. But then again, you might be running OS 10.2, whatever release Panther is. So that won't help. You could try running Linux, but then you might be accused of being a supervillain or trying to take over the world with your orbiting brain lasers. Hehehe. Linux runs on anything, man. But, if you really want to be able to use WildCat Mail, just bend and use Windows like the rest of us. Grrrr. But, if you really want to know, I'm not using MSIE to write this. :) I'm using Windows, but not Internet Exploder.

_

Sometimes Macs don't like wildcat mail either. Try refreshing. Or being fresh. Or freshening your breath.

Always brush your teeth before using a computer.

Panther does not like Wildcat Mail

How odd.

That is, the compose link (and the others) never show up on the left. Jarrett, my email is sten _ paa [at] yeehaw [dot] combustible. Or yahoo. Whichever, really.

Allez-Vous!

It's on the web!
the link is

hat top://, jinglesthepirategoesquantitysurveying , blogspot, commie.
or Here -> _

I'll repeat, send me your email addresses and I will invite you. In fact, send me the email addresses of other people you know would like to be involved. There are some ideas there already.

En Avant JÞ II!

Other Ideas

I really like the idea of having a 'discussion-forum-for-Jinglesþula-sequel" blog. And I will be responsible for it. So, all you involved in the JÞ II Project, email your addresses to arthur wheatley (a) mail, weber, edu. I'll be setting up the blog tomorrow morning.

Another thought: for those of you in Marching Band, and maybe in the whole Band Program, I think we need to have a WSU Band Union. So that Announcements made in one band but forgotten in another will get through. So that issues can be addressed, and whiners forever silenced(unless they're righteously whining). A rep would come from each section.

Also -- do we all only blog on Thursday?
Also -- for now, we don't even worry about the title. What works works, and we won't mess with it.

Only-Jarrett-would-find-such-a-thing-website-of-the-day:
Essential Norman Conquest (Bayeux Tapestry available for download!)

Happy Gerunds and Zeugmas to all!
Oh, and I get the Þ character by pressing Alt+0222, and the lowercase þ by Alt+0254. I'm on windows 95, so.

Not Fare

$20, actually. If you paid on time. $25 late, and $30 at the door with no Maddox.

So I was thinking that the party in Cedar City was the best ever as far as graduation parties go. Then I was listening to my sister tell about hers. They had Maddox cater from 11-12, and then later they came in with stacks and stacks of pizza from The Pie. In the library they had tons of TVs set up with Halo on XBox, ping pong, inflatable toys from Some Dude's Playground including one where you attatched a bungee cord to you and then ran and see how far you could get before you get thrown back (yay for friction burns). They had ping pong and a DJ and everybody that came in had a wrist band with a number on it. In the school office there was a duffel bag with a corresponding number on it that you could keep your stuff in and come check it out whenever you wanted to. Then at the end of the night you got to keep the duffel bag, which was huge, really nice and came with a water bottle and mesh holder for it on the bag. They also showed The Creature From the Black Lagoon on reel-to-reel, and 1/2 way through the sound got off from the picture by about 1 second. Hilarious, cheesy and totally awesome. They also gave out about $1700 in cash and stuff like a moped and other items. So now there are two (2) graduation parties that I've seen or heard tell of that simply kick my graduation party's backside. What did I have, you might ask? the Ogden Recreation Center something or other was rented out (some of the rooms weren't even opened) and they had weird food that wasn't that great. I won some candy in a drawring. I don't even remember anything else. They might have had a DJ at ours, but the whole thing wasn't very impressive and we left 1/2 way through to go watch The Fugitive over in Eden. Now I'm through drooling and complaining. But speaking of Cedar City, after DCI finals the Cadets and Vanguard are going to stay there on their way to Cali. Ricky was thinking of going to see them. Road trip, anyone? You won't even have to eat prickly pear, I promise. More later.

Here's to hopin

I sure hope that you guys don't start fighting over the title or anything. I mean, the one that Andrew had was funny and doesn't even need to have anything to do with the plot. I always find that bickering whilst corroborating with a fun project, takes the fun and makes it not fun.
Anywho, yes, Jarrett, congregations on your DL. However, staying nice and patient with the other stupid Utard drivers that seem to accost me at every turn. I mean, sometimes I think that it's secretly Cut Ben Off Day and everyone decided not to tell me about it.
My story, "The Sleepy Dozen", is finally into Street Magazine and all's I get to do is wait and see what happens. My older sister is the copy editer for that particular publication and if my story makes it, which my sis is almost certain it will, then she'll know about it... because she'll have to edit it.
I'm also hoping that a letter will come to my house before my vacation.

Lates, yo.

Tropical lazor beams of love

Tropical lima beans above.

Woo who. JII. As I was cruising down the road on the south side of campus I thought that it would be nice if the browning center were a castle being stormed at one point. Maybe the other buildings on campus could be other buildings in the movie.... kind of expand our horizons. Shoot, we could even shoot at many and various locations in the area. Maybe we could even start another blog as a script/other movie ideas forum for working on the movie so as not to clutter this blog with the preproduction gab.

Jarrett, to put it in the words of a crazy old wizard: "That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world."

(Unfortunately it is both a world of freedom and of frustration.)

And congrats to Jason also on the recovery of his site.

And congrats to me on my 9.3 rating. [what a geek I am]

Sooooo.... the puppet jam 2 sounds an awful lot like Saphire Bullets of Pure Love from Flood. I thought it was very funny. Also the new Cheat Commando's Oh's Cereal commercial.

And by the by, Venus is scheduled to cross the solar disk on June 8. A rare occurrance (from our vantage anyways).

More.

Later.

Laters.

Jingles's saga andersonar

Sorry - like the original "Jinglesþula" that's an obscure Icelandic Joke, and Andrew, mebbe we continue to hammer on the title. I spent 2 hours on the title for JÞ 1 - hard work pays off. Yes, JÞ II is a go. I certainly agree that it should be done, and am happy to be collaborating (and/or corroborating, corrupting, corroding, corrugating, kayaking?) with Herr Schvaneveldt.
Andrew, I think that despite your likely role as High Camera Lord (experience dictating), you should consider playing the BadGuy. Whom I think -- and tell me your opinion -- should be called Dennis. Good Ideas begin to dribble forth already.
Other than that, Jarrett is the Band Hall's most recently Licensed Driver. And I am suddenly aware of how many idiots there are in the world.
And since I prefer short blogs, that's all for today, except a poem link.

Speaking of Eggmuffins, Ben

I wen't to Mr. Donald's this morning and ordered the Big Breakfast. But all it had in it was a muffin, sausage, and scrambled eggs. Sure, it came with a drink, but it's like they just gave me a dissembled Sausage Egg McMuffin. I thought it'd come with pancakes too, but I was wrong. Sad.

Ok, so that really IS TMBG playing with puppet H*R. Puppet Jam 2 is up now, by the by. And I went to tmbg.com to confirm it. Apparently they are doing a music video soon of one of the songs off TMBG's new album. And also, if you go to tmbg.com they currently have Birdhouse in Your Soul for their listen-to-for-free song. Just shoot the picture of the ear that goes by on the wire and then shoot the accordian below to hear it.

I got 5 hours of sleep last night - up til after 1am working, and then I had to get up just after 6 to work again. Shortly thereafter I went to my uncle's appartment to help pack up stuff to move. That took a few hours. Then, by lunch time I was so tired I did something funny. I was sitting there with a gallon of milk in front of me and the thought occurred to me "Hey, I wonder what the ingredients are in milk." After a few seconds of looking on the front and sides of the container, it struck me that - duh - there's nothing in milk but milk. Only later did it occur to me that they are required by law to put the ingredients on the food. I went back and checked and it was sure enough there on the back, where I'd failed to look the first time.

Ok, well, I thought it was funny. But then, I only had 5 hours of sleep.

Go figure.

More later.

All Better Now

Put your hands together for the incredible power of Nate Zaugg!! He singlehandedly slew the dragon and got my website back on the internet all while eating orange Jell-O. Well, I may be a bit exaggerating with that bit about the dragon and Jell-O, but my website works again! :) But you never know, maybe he did do all that stuff. ??????

So, I don't know about you all, but something like having my website back up is a really cool thing. It's like Christmas, though I'm not going to compare my website to the Lord Jesus Christ or anything. That would be a little bit incredulous and a lot bit blasphemous. It's just like the feeling you get when you're a little kid and you go to open presents on Christmas. Yeah, I was pretty excited about it.

A reiteration: Kristin and I are getting married! (I'm way excited, by the way.) If you would like an announcement, please email me and let me know. I need your physical address too. You can reach me at j s c h i l l [at] w i n t o o l s [dot] c o m.

Have a great day, y'all! Talk to you later. Please keep me informed regarding Jinglesthula Episode II.

Chao

Sounds D

lightful.

I'd be up for part II. Speaking of which, today I ate at Gandolpho's again. Thank you Ben for showing me what a good sandwich is supposed to be like. I had the Empire State. 'Twas great. Well, then, here I go. Now I'm going to go read something.

Laters, all.

Well, what have we here?

I don't really know the answer to that myself. Actually, I think I have come to a solution to end my bitterness and do something that everyone will have fun with. I propose to film-

"Jinglesthula Episode II: The Curse of the Phantom Clones or Jingles the Pirate goes Quantity Surveying"

- Everyone will be invited to partake of the filmmyness that it will be, pending approval from the almighty creator, Jarrett. My proposal is this: we utilize all the bad techniques and jokes that made the first one work so well, but make it even longer and more unbearable than the first. It will be hilarious. Ricky has already agreed to return as the all around stunt person, providing stunts for all, and Ben is excited about a possible "return of the king". I would love to have Jon reprise his part as Jingles and Jarrett as Father Benedict. Here's hopping we can get all us band geeks together one more time for some fun at the expense of those band geeks who will not be able to be present, er, I mean..........bye now.

Look what you did! You broke it!

Hey, sorry guys, for having my blog down for a while. I have no idea what is going on with it. I've sent an email to the great Nate Zaugg and asked him to take a look at it. As far as I know, I didn't do anything to take it offline, but sure enough, it is. I can't even log into it properly anymore. Geez! I go away for a weekend, come back and BAM! My website is down and my life is in a shambles!! Well, okay, you can forget the second part of the previous statement, but MY WEBSITE IS DOWN! Gaaaah! What could be worse? Okay, it could be raining in the library or something. Now that would be bad. Sorry about that. Like I say, I don't know what's up with it. It's just being tempermental, I think. In the meantime (time can be mean, eh) have fun with this site: LoserCars.

TTFN
Jason