Half-Human, Half-Vladimir Putin

It’s been a while since I’ve touched on music, so it’s time to break that trend. Today I received my Melatonin Magik hoodie in the mail so I figured I’d post a pic of that and link a new track from the album. If you haven’t been keeping up, Melatonin Magik is the latest album from (my personal favorite) rapper Canibus. I bought the hoodie a while back but was surprised to find a bonus sampler CD in the box signed by Canibus himself. One of my favorite tracks on the album comes straight from Melatonin Magik, and is called “Post Traumatic Warlab Stress.” A picture of the hoodie/signed CD and song are below.

Hoodie with signed Magik Sampler (click to enlarge):

Post-Traumatic Warlab Stress:

From Somers Town to Surrey Docks With a KMRIA

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – my taste in music is very odd.  One moment I’ll be listening to Canibus, best rapper alive, and the next I’ll be listening to the irish folk stylings of The Pogues.  I think the common theme in the music I enjoy is that it tells a story, which is obvious when it comes to folk music but less-so in hip-hop.  Anyways, one of my favorite songs by The Pogues is actually a demo called “Transmetropolitan.”  The link is below.

O Helga Natt

I always listen to this youtube video around Christmas time as it’s one of the most moving versions of “Oh Holy Night” I think I’ve ever heard.  Performed by Jussi Bjorling, labeled by some as “The Perfect Tenor,” this song has got to be emotionally moving to anyone with a pulse.  My favorite part is round-about 1:11 minutes in, where it really kicks off.  Unfortunately the uploader has disabled embeds for the video.  Anyways, hit the link below and enjoy, but most of all have a great holiday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nrDfqoYzNo

The Bear

If it wasn’t for music I don’t know what I’d do sometimes.  I recently caught an episode of Penny-Arcade: The Series, and there was this track featured by Alex Mauer simply called “The Bear.”  The song was so provocative that it inspired me to purchase Alex’s full album on-the-spot.  Truthfully, I didn’t know I was purchasing a physical album (I presumed it would be an MP3 download) but I’ve since received (and ripped) Alex’s  ”9999,” and it was well-worth the purchase.

Unfortunately there is no online version of the song that I can find, so you’ll have to watch the episode of Penny Arcade linked above to see what I’m talking about.  I’d recommend taking a look either way, since their show personifies my dream job.  The song shows up at approximately 7:00 minutes.

Which company inspired this design?

I’m sure you’ll never guess!  (click to enlarge)

My Second Geocache

The iPhone is a wonderful device.  I can honestly say that without it I probably wouldn’t have gotten into geocaching.  Actually, without the Totally Rad Show’s segment on geocaching (embedded below) I probably wouldn’t have picked up on it in the first place, but that’s a whole different story.  Using the iPhone I’m able to locate geocaches via GPS and track them down using Google Maps, even using a compass as I get closer and closer to the cache to narrow the search.  From there I can log my visit, and see any other caches that are around me via a list sorted by distance (another handy reason to have GPS on your phone).

Anyways, I might start logging caches as I find them.  To be honest I’ve only found two to date, but whenever I find one from now on I’ll post pictures here (again, using the iPhone).  The first is below.  Before that though, I want to sing the praises of an application called, surprisingly enough, Geocaching.  It’s the most expensive application I’ve purchased weighing in at $9.99, but it’s been worth it so far.  The simple fact that it’s a cheap entry point to a fun hobby that will pay off in entertainment value alone is enough to garner my recommendation.

However, it’s the first app that has truly impressed me with the wide-range of functionality included with it.  As I mentioned you can search for nearby geocaches and navigate to them via Google Maps using the iPhone’s included GPS.  You can use a compass to point you in the right direction if the map isn’t sufficient.  On top of that it interfaces with Geocaching.com, a website which features a database of geocaches for finders and hiders alike.  The site has a ton of information (descriptions of caches, hints if you’re stuck, and user comments – and that’s just the beginning).  All of this is accessible with the Geocaching application.  I’ll include an iTunes link to it at the bottom.

So, here’s my latest (second) find.  Yes, it was attached to a ceramic dalmatian.  Yes, it’s a dalmatian because it’s part of a 101 Dalmatians-themed series of caches.  Come on people, I’m new to this! =)  I signed the log included in a tube container on the dog’s collar and was on my way (Signed “Dave Kemick 8/16/2009 – TRS” in case you’re in the area).

iTunes – Geocaching

AudioBoo: Spill Disasters

This is just another quick AudioBoo recording in which I describe my beverage spilling woes.  Very exciting.

Silversun Pickups’ “Swoon”

Swoon is my latest purchase from Amazon MP3, and despite initial trepidation I have to say it’s an all-around solid album.  After about 4 listens through I’ve decided that it might not have as many super hits as their previous album Carnavas (songs such as “Well Thought Out Twinkles” and “Lazy Eye” were amazing), but the overall quality is much higher.  My favorite song on Swoon so far is one of the singles called “Panic Switch.”  The chorus in this song is probably the best and catchiest out of anything they’ve made that I’ve heard.  The video’s below.

How can you watch that video and not be pumped if only because of the drummer’s enthusiasm?  Sorry the blog has become all about music lately.  I’ve been kinda busy and when I work I tend to listen to music so that’s where this is coming from.  Good news though, my review of Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is imminent. If you’d like to buy the album I’ve included a handy link to the Amazon MP3 download below.

My taste in music is so weird.

I go from listening to some Canibus, the greatest rapper alive, to songs like Christy Moore’s “Ride On.”  I think I might have to pick up his whole “Live in Dublin 2006″ album sometime.  I’ve seen a few of the songs on YouTube and they’re all pretty great.  Anyways:

McKean County Hotel

Unfortunately it’s been some time since I’ve written.  That’s for a few reasons, but what initially caused me to drift from my handy WordPress text editor were end-of-semester projects like this.  The brilliantly-named “McKean County Hotel” website was my offering for the final project in a course titled “Advanced Web Development.”  The class was great and I learned a lot, especially how best to interact with databases in my web applications.  Below is a screenshot of the homepage.  It’s not much, but it gives you an idea of what the overall layout was like – remember you can click to enlarge and get a better view.  Maybe one of these days I’ll pick up a .NET hosting account so that I can share some of my past projects more properly.

The site included the ability for guests to check the availability of accommodations on their specified date, reserve a room, order room service via a roughly-hewn shopping cart (with breakfast, lunch, dinner AND dessert menus!), and even set wake up calls all from the website.