Had a good time at the Pub tonight. We listened to two sets of wind-up bird. It is heaven to listen to them jam. We had to leave a little early, but we'll be back, as this band is one to watch. By way of introduction: Steve's clear tones wash over the melody; his lead guitar is the obvious cornerstone of the band. Swooping in with the unexpected is Topu (that "t" sounds like a "d") on electric cello. You only think you know where he's going. Andy is solid and skillful on the drums--methinks he needs a solo somewhere so he can show off (maybe he has one in the third set). Finally, Michael steps up with vocals floating somewhere between rock and jazz, and covers bass and rythm guitar as well.

Okay, so that was a little flowery. Leave me alone, I'm a geek, not a novelist.

Their current gig is every Tuesday, 6:30 - 9:00, at the Mt. Tabor Pub. Which brings me to another item...

For the past week I've been watching Upcoming.org to see how it develops, and if it's the toy for me. It definitely is. On Upcoming.org, you sign up to watch events posted to your favorite metros, and add events yourself. For example, I just added wind-up bird's next gig. I've been using it to keep track of what other Portlanders are doing. A couple folks have found ways to add the feed to their webpage, and I'll probably be doing one of those shortly. Too damned cool. Big kudos to Waxy.

Where I will be tomorrow night:

Wind-up Bird
6:30-9:00 pm
Mt. Tabor Pub (48th and Hawthorne)
admission $2 or free with flier

I wish these guys had a website. We heard them at Saturday Market and they were great for a few songs. Then they took a break, came back, and allowed a disastrous, endless sit-in by a reggae-wannabe who thought way too much of himself. We're heading to the pub to see if they're really as good as those few idiotless songs indicated. Watch, we'll find out he's with the band now.

This made me squeal and clap:

"Defeat of the initial flawed IEEE electronic voting standard is a victory for IEEE's democratic process," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "We are glad that the majority of the IEEE working group recognizes the serious problems with this current electronic voting standard proposal and hope that the working group will now fix the standard to reflect current security norms."

FYI, if you'd like more info, See the forest has a great collection of links.

Via boingboing.

I'm having one of those "feeling like a failure" cycles. Yes, life is wonderful, and I get a lot accomplished, but it never seems like enough. What I'm feeling guilty about at the moment:

• Not keeping in contact with good friends
  
• Never sending a Greenshoes mix to Walrus. For the past many whiles, I've been working on making him copies of everything to make up for it.
  
• Not getting Blogathon reminders out on time.
  
• Getting a month behind on my email.
  
• Falling behind on web projects like the Mefifaq and KISS Living.
  
• Not writing my favorite Aunt.

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but that's the big stuff. Looking at the list, it seems I have few problems. I bet most people wish they could have my worries instead of theirs--mortgages, car payments, teenagers, etc.

There, I feel better.

Sort of.

Okay, this is cool. You put your email in the box, and you get a daily dose of your favorite blog in your email. I've browsed the site, and added quite a few--I am bad about surfing to my favorite sites, so an email is ideal.

I'll be adding a sidebar form soon, but for now, you can subscribe to frytopia with this:

Enter your email address below to subscribe to frytopia!





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Here's a question for all you adults out there: how long has it been since you had chocolate milk?

I had chocolate syrup for sundaes made many moons ago, and I had the milk, but for some reason, I hadn't put them together. Heck, I hadn't had a glass of the merry mix for years. Then, a few days ago, I decided nothing could be better with my peanut butter bagel than a glass of chocolate milk. I was right. I now contend that everyone should drink a glass once in a while. It's good for you.

In other miscellaneous news, go here and sign up. If we get critical mass, it could be a great tool for keeping up with what's going on in your neighborhood--something I'm notoriously bad at.

My father-in-law (hi Barry!) called Saturday. His first words after hello: "Why haven't you updated your website, ya lazy bugger?" It made me laugh and stammer, and realize I haven't been around here much lately.

The biggest reason was that we moved, and the office was discombobulated and unpleasant to work in. This weekend I fixed that problem, so here I am. Here are a few things that have happened...

Went to annual training in Bend, Oregon. Believe it or not, I had a great time, and even learned a few things. Bill and I had some nice adventures, and as soon as we dig out the camera cables, I'll have some pics.

We finished moving, and have slowly been digging out of boxes and organizing things. I never new I wanted a view until I had one. Suddenly, we're not so keen to buy a house--a little more space made all the difference.

After much lawyer firing and handwringing, we submitted Bill's immigration packet to the BCIS on Friday. He should finally have a work permit in 6-8 weeks. We are gleeful.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I'll worry about that later. To finish up, here are a few things I've been reading lately:

Beyond Brilliance, Beyond Stupidity: the good and bad of urban planning, transportation, and design.

SCOTUSblog: all about my bosses.

And something I've been playing obsessively: Differences.