Housesitting

I'm housesitting for my friends Tim and Ron this weekend, taking care of their lesbian dogs. I've included a shot with the new N95... I know I had talked about making an unboxing video, but trying to open the box with one hand while holding the camera with the other made me look even douchier than usual. I'm still getting used to the N95 - it does so many things and there are settings I know I haven't gotten quite right. Still, its damn impressive. I took a look at my digital camera yesterday and realized that it was only 4 MP... so the Nokia has basically replaced my cell, iPod and camera.

Marc's Midweek Fashion Faux Pas Beef Haiku

Without guidance from
Abercrombie catalogue:
Beef wears neon shorts.

Equivocation

I'm not really one who keeps on the cutting edge of gadgetry -- I usually leave that up to our beloved Bravehound. But lately I'd been jonesing about upgrading from the iPod mini I have... I definitely dig the iPod Touch and the iPhone. At the same time, my cell phone is getting a little beat up and its time for a new one.

I thought about the iPhone, I dig the design and functionality. The downside? I have T-Mobile and I have no desire to jump to AT&T. Hack it, you say? Ehh, I don't have the energy to get into the cat and mouse game that is required to stay ahead of Apple. Too much work. The other consideration is the lesson I got from buying the RAZR -- I hate being part of a trend. Sorry, iPhone, you're just too trendy.

So, I took a look at the Nokia N95 and really got turned on by it -- all the functionality I want, works on T-Mobile and has a 5 megapixel camera (with flash) to boot. Sounds like a marriage made in heaven, right? Nah, here's where the equivocation comes in. cue inner voice. "But its too expensive..." I wouldn't have a problem laying down $350 for an iPod touch and then a good $100-$150 for a decent phone. So what's my damage with paying the same amount for a cool gadget that does it all? Yeah, I asked myself the same thing. There's a week of my life I'll never get back.

The short of it is that the decision has been made, I should be getting it later this week. Like I said, I know its more Bravehound than echeblog, but I should have an unboxing video later this week.

Back On Course

Last week I got a couple of emails from Alex noticing that I'd been rather quiet. Worse than that, I'd neglected my Beef Haikus for a couple of weeks. Naturally, he suspected the worst. "Are you ok?"

While I was still hacking up a little bit of phlegm from the cold I've had, truth be told, its really not like anything was going badly. It was more that I'd felt like I was in a fog and drifting off course, just going through the motions. Its not that I had much to complain about, more like a big round of, "Blah blah blah, my life isn't exactly as I'd like it, oh woe is me because nothing I do seems to make any difference." A little self pity goes a long way.

Over the weekend I decided it was time to do a little reality check. For all my talk about wanting my life to be different, I'd been spending an awful lot of time and energy on things that don't immediately impact my life. Culprit No. 1 - the election. Yes, I think its important, yes, it is interesting to see how things are playing out but do I really need to spend THAT much time keeping track of every minor occurrence? Whether its the election or a variety of other topics, spending time surfing the Internet marveling at how stupid things are... well, that's just a pretty unwise choice. I know better. How can I possibly expect to feel good about my life and the world when I'm spending so much time looking for things with which I'm dissatisfied?

Long story short, I know its time to stop fucking around. Instead of spending so much energy going back and forth and back and forth and back again, then wondering why I'm not making any progress, I'm ready to get my ass in gear and do the things I already know I need to do.

February 9, 2008 @ Forbidden

I had another set at Club Forbidden in Scottsdale. I felt like I had a good set and everyone seemed to have a good time. I decided to do something a little differently this time -- I went ahead and wrote out my set list as well as kept track of the requests I got. In the future I'd like to link to where people can listen to and buy the tracks, if they're interested.

In the past I've had people who would ask me about tracks I've played and I've not been able to remember exactly what I've played. On a personal level, I'm trying to increase the value of my own work, so I figured that a good place to start keeping track of my sets and look back at what I played and why.

So, if you want to take a look inside my head and learn more about dance music and what a DJ does, go ahead and check it out.

YAY BEEF!

There are some who would say that beeves is all about ego and vanity, steroids and unsafe sex. Beeves is just for looks, right? Not true! I've been saying for ages that beef always saves the day... and this proves it.

A German man drove his car into a 6-foot deep ditch and 10 beeves came to the rescue. Fortunately, the crash occurred near their gym and the beeves halted their training to help out. Working together, the beeves were able to pull the car out of the ditch in just a few short minutes, saving the day.

Now all I need is for a group of beeves to come save my day. I'd reward them properly, I would.

Sniff Sniff

Sorry I've been silent this past week -- I've spent most of last week in bed, trying to keep the cold that crept up on me from getting any worse than it absolutely needed to be. Fortunately, I'm back to feeling human... and always in amazement to how much gunk the human body can produce.

Counterpoint

Super Tuesday is tomorrow and Scott-O-Rama and This Boy Elroy are featuring articles on why they support Hillary Clinton. I decided to give everyone a little counterpoint and explain why I support Barack Obama and urge everyone to take another look at him if you haven't already.

This country needs change. We all know it. In 2004 many of us tried but ultimately, the rallying cry of "anybody but Bush" just wasn't enough. While George W. Bush will be gone after this election, America has been traveling down the wrong road for a while. We can point to the war, mismanagement and corruption or a whole host of bad decisions over the past several years, but these are only symptoms.

At the root of things is the notion that America is somehow at war with itself; that our fellow citizens with which we disagree are our enemies. For too long we've justified reaching political power by whatever means necessary, forgetting that the damage done in the process outweighs whatever possible good that could be achieved. We have been content for our politics to include the few for the benefit of the few. Some of these tendencies are as old as the nation itself, as we have harbored our divisions for much of our history.

Certainly, the challenges facing our country are significant. Implicit in this coming election is whether we can possibly surmount what lies ahead as a nation divided or choose a new path that brings our nation back together. Let me be clear: Neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton will solve all our nation's problems, nor can the solutions that we require be imposed by will alone. True change will only come about by working together.

The irony of this primary is that even though people seem to want change, many who are calling for change are also convinced that we need an "expert" instead of an "amateur," especially when that experience boils down to, "I can spin better, I can outmaneuver, I can beat those guys, I play the game better than they do." While that might have been good enough in 1992 or 1996, hopefully we've learned an important lesson: that we have to work with "those guys" to achieve real solutions instead of political quick fixes. Winning the election isn't enough.

I believe the choice is simple: do you want change or would you prefer the comfort of what you know? Do we play the same tired, old game for another four years? I'm ready for a new direction. I'm ready for Barack Obama.

Yes, We Can.