the bofe blog

My old roommate John Gibson was always making these goofy films for the two years I lived with him.

Hot Pocket of Love could be one of the most random of them all, but hey—he did get a beautiful girl to marry him out of it.

Highlights:

• Marriage Proposal (obviously)
• The Spaniard (with Fiesta Latina music accompanying his screen presence)
• Hot Pockets

PS: Craig, this nothing like your hot pocket of DEATH story.

So I’ve done all but put the ink on the paper for a new job. They want me to start July 10th. That gives me a pretty serious break, which naturally extends my existing “break” to over one month.

Yeah, I’ve gotten a lot of work done on some projects. I was also in the state for two weeks and I landed two job interviews and one offer. It still feels like vacation. I mean… going out on a boat, eating out a lot, it has all of the symptoms of a vacation but this time I’ve got a computer with me!

In case you didn’t know, I’m heading back to KY for a week in a little over a week. I already got to see my friend Erin from KY (Thank you, Facebook!) but I am still having some withdrawls from my friends and family there. Luckily, I get to see three or four of my friends on Saturday at the DCI show in Columbia. I may even get to see another one on Friday for a Royals game.

My glasses are gone. That makes typing this entry hurt a little, so I’m done for now. I’ll write more soon.

Citronella won’t work.

Neither will OFF! sprays.

I’m pretty desperate for anti-mosquito solutions during the summer time. The next ones I’ll be trying?

• Mosquito Mega Catch – for home. We can just put one of these bad boys out back and watch the bastards die.
• L.L. Bean Buzz Off Shirt – for travel. It uses similar methods for extermination that the Mega Catch uses.

The trap uses a strip of octenol (to generate a scent that resembles breath), a UV bulb, and flashing LEDs (oscillating frequencies determined to coincide with spectral sensitivities of many mosquitoes). When mosquitoes get close to the trap, the patented airflow system that disperses the attractant sucks the insects inside, where they are collected in a mesh catch bag or a liquid catch pan that is easy and safe to empty.In a USDA suburban test, our trap captured up to 1,200 mosquitoes in a single night and diminished mosquito populations over an entire acre.

Ohhh yes. I can’t wait to nuke those bastards.

I almost ruined any chance I had at getting a job: forgetting to play Latin music on a Friday.

Every Friday I go through the two Tropical Fantasia Albums I have—over and over.

• Tropical Fantasia: Fiesta Latina
• Tropical Fantasia: Salsa

Both can be purchased at those Wal-Mart kiosks for like $5. Try it out on a Friday morning (especially after a late late night of coding) and you’ll see what I mean.

One of the perks of living in a bigger city: Kentacohuts.

Kentacohuts are the restaurants that combine KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut into one.

I first saw them in San Diego. We ate at one today. Craig wanted pizza. Scott and I wanted Tacos. If not for Kentacohut, we would have had to compromise.

Scott made a mention about me pointing out some musical geekery in a Head Automatica song. I’ve done it before on this site, and I’ll do it again. Here’s a post with popular music samples that have key changes. Audio samples were created with Audacity

Wikipedia gets a little hairy on their definition of what’s happening. Speaking in the most basic terms I can, a key change is when the pitch “base” that a song uses changes somehow, rises or falls. A mode change is when the mood of the song changes from happy to sad. I don’t really know too much more about modes of songs… so I’ll leave that to the professionals.

For the guitar players out there… think about it like this: playing Smells Like Teen Spirit (the easiest song ever) —- then slapping a capo onto the 4th fret and playing Smells like Teen spirit again. The notes are the same distance apart, but you’re using a higher pitched “base” with the capo.

There’s something I miss about Murray—not being around the musical geniuses.

The key changes:

• Head Automatica – Beating Heart Baby – this is one that just slaps you in the face. You’re officially tone deaf if you can’t hear the change. The chorus in one key is played, then the key changes and the chorus is done again.

• Ben Folds – All is Fair – I think this is a key change. If it isn’t, someone let me know. I believe it’s a secondary dominant chromatic modulation—a little more difficult to hear, but it’s there.
  

• System of a Down – Streamline – this one happens right at the end of the song. I can’t remember the term, but there is actually a term for what they do at the end of this song. I think this one is just a mode change.
  

• The grandaddy – Kyle’s Mom is a Stupid Bitch (from the south park movie). This is just a little over one minute long but the key goes up a half step each verse. This song quickly escalates the South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut drinking game to the next level.
  

This time in my life has held quite a few “firsts”—here they are in no particular order:

• First KC Royals Baseball Game
• First Mr. Goodcents sandwich (4.5/10—10 being Famous Deli/Bistro in Downtown Owensboro)
• First (and probably last) Vodka Tonic—I felt too much like an old woman drinking one of these
• First expierence Wakeboarding (and I got up!)

There’s the boat we’ve been taking out. It’s Craig’s boat. I’m not sure what her name is—we’ve been unofficially(?) calling it the mali-booty because it’s a Malibu brand boat. Note: this photo also contains Kansas’ state flower the Sunflower.

Scott, Craig and myself will be spending our Tuesdays and Thursdays “rehearsing” for the weekends. Craig has a slight advantage over us wakeboarding, but we are eager to learn. Wakeboarding is fun but it’s also physically challenging. I’m a little sore. After today’s run I hope to be even more sore.

After spending a week in San Diego, I had a whole new set of words/customs to add to my arsenal. (Going huge, douchechill, etc)

Spending my first week in Overland Park has done the same.

New Music:

• O.A.R. – The double-cd live album 34th & 8th… our essential summer jam
• T.I. – Particularly the song “Get It”
• Head Automatica – Decadence
• Chamillionare – The entire “Sound of Revenge” album

New Phrases:

• “That’s hot”
• “Empircal data reveals/suggests…”

Oh, and I bought a Royal’s hat tonight. We went to watch one of the worst teams in baseball prove it, we blew the lead (2-0) in the last two innings and lost 4-2.

Overland Park is still a very different place. I’ve got my first interview tomorrow. It’s a web development gig doing ColdFusion programming along with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. I’m excited.

Life’s been moving pretty fast – working on pet projects along with unpacking and renovating the basement there’s been little time to just chill. We spent yesterday on Hillsdale Lake which is a man-made lake that the US Army Corps of Engineers built and maintains. Any time we’re aboard the Mal-i-booty (Craig’s boat) promises to be a good time, and this was no exception. We ended up meeting a really nice and outgoing family and spent the entire day (1pm-11pm) out there.

Now it’s time to brag: my granddad graduated Saturday with a Master’s Degree in Medical Biochemistry. It’s a little strange role-reversal – a grandson bragging about his grandpa graduating from college, but it’s a unique story (as told from the Philadelphia Inquirer):

Most people in their 80s enjoy retirement and traveling. They usually don’t go back to college, let alone get a graduate degree at the age of 83 so they can start a new career. But George Rayl of Berwyn had a promise to keep. As his wife, Olga, lay dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, Rayl told her he would work for a cure. That was 11 years ago.

He’s gotten a great amount of press on this:

• NBC10 – Man, 83, Fulfills Promise To Dying Wife – this link has a video which outlines the story very well.
• Philadelphia Inquirer – Oldest Jefferson graduate a man fulfilling a mission
• 6abc: 83-year-old Graduates from Jefferson University

It’s rewarding to have such determined family members. Our family learned so much from Gram’s bout with ALS and it’s gratifying to see Granddad continue to honor her memory in his own way.

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve updated. I have just settled down in Overland Park, KS.

• Lots of Goodbyes, including to the office
• One Season 2 Finale of LOST
• One packing a car beyond belief
• One tragically lost cell phone
• One Replacement cell phone with no numbers
• One Memorial Day on Clayton’s new boat
• Five tanks of gas
• One unpacking of a car
• Seven hours of sleep per night
• Two potential job leads (sadly, none with PHP)
• One new office area (basement)
• Two new tires
• Two new roommates

I’m sure I’m missing a few things. I’ll post pictures as soon as I can, things are a bit hectic at the moment.