December 2008 Archives

My good friends down in Georgia started planning this new year's festivities back in August of this year. They had the great idea of renting a cabin up in the north Georgia mountains for our group of friends.

We'll have 8-10 people gathering to enjoy lots of food, friends, games, ping pong, hot tubs, and merriment. What a great idea to enjoy and celebrate the new year!

Cleveland Georgia is known for Babyland General Hospital, where the Cabbage Patch Kids are born, Unicoi state park, and the nearby German influenced town of Helen.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2009!

This past week in Minnesota has been one of the coldest for me yet. After moving to this state, I had not yet prepared for the onslaught of coldness that was to hit me in the face. It was -14 F this morning when going to work. That's without the windchill. Try -28 F with the windchill. So cold.

A friend and I went to the North Face store in uptown to check out their gear. We were greeted by a very friendly saleswoman who broke it down plain and simple about how to stay warm in cold weather.

I had come into the store looking for the biggest, puffiest, warmest gear that I could find. I was amazed at what I found out. You don't have to look like the stay puff marshmallow man in order to stay warm.

First off is your base layer. This can be any sort of thin poly material that you can buy at Target, Marshall's, or TJ Maxx. Any sort of polyester or polypropylene garment will work perfect. It looks like and feels like cotton, but it has better wicking properties that allow moisture to escape and your body to breathe.

Your second layer can be a good fleece thaty ou may already have. Many sweatpants or gym clothes are perfect for this. It keeps in the warmth and acts as an insulator.

Your shell or third layer is the most important in terms of protection from the wind. I picked up a pair of these Freedom pants from North Face. They had a 25% off sale, so I got them for around $100. These pants do an wesome job of keeping the cold snow, ice and wetness out. They allow your legs to breathe and still protect you from the elements.

Layer these three pieces of clothing and you'll be all teched out and ready to stay warm in the elements.

In summary:

1. Base layer: polyester or polypropylene
2. Insulation layer: fleece
3. Outer shell: Gore-tex or HyVent material 

I'm becoming an Minnesotan slowly but surely!

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Comcast has such a stronghold on the cable internet and TV markets that it's difficult to find any other alternatives. They force you into the triple play bundled package to keep you hooked in and get that extra revenue from you.

However, if you are like me, you have a cell phone and watch your TV over the internet. So no need for cable or a home phone. Thus, you only want internet. If you don't bundle your internet service with Comcast, they make it more expensive to get just internet.

Earthlink actually resells Comcast internet for a cheaper price. They will even send out a Comcast technician to install it for you. It's pretty darn fast where I am too. Sometimes I test the service at speed.io and it clocks in over 12mb down. I've seen it as fast as 16mb on some days.

Earthlink: Faster, cheaper, and no Comcast hassles.

These bad boys will definitely appetize your stomach for some more asian food. Simple, easy to make, and well worth the effort. You can't go wrong bringing these to a dinner party or even making at home for the family to enjoy.

The recipe is pretty ubiquitous among the Vietnamese culture and various restaurants, but I did find this one from All recipes.com that I particularly liked: Vietnamese Fresh Spring rolls. All you need is vermicelli, shrimp, basil, cilantro, and some rice wrappers and you're good to go.

Check out the recipe mentioned above and enjoy a tasty treat. Very easy to make and definitely enjoyable!

I'm not sure what to think of Deadmau5 these days. AKA Joel Zimmerman, hailing from Toronto Canada, his progressive tracks are pervasive all throughout club music these days. He's not much older than I am, born on January 5, 1981.

Despite what many think of his songs, his persona and ego seems to be given to causing a ruckus and waves of contempt in everything that he does.

First of all, if you happen to play at a show before him, you are not allowed to use the Ableton Live software to play music. Read what happened to maximum01. Why would it matter if you happen to use the same audio looping software as him? Is he afraid of being showed up by someone better than him?

Next is the whole fiasco with Fruity Loops. Apparently, there are some royalty free loops and samples from his song Faxing Berlin in the Fruity Loops studio software. He made such a big stink about it and claimed that Fruity Loops stole his music. The company has now pulled all samples and melodic content from their software. Read more over at Create Digital Music.

Why would such a guy care about anything like that? If he never intended to get into creating electronic dance music in the first place, it should not be that big of a deal to him. He apparently seems to care only about making money and building up his own ego.

I don't even want to discuss the many articles and discussion boards that are talking about his comments and thoughts about dj's. Read them for yourself. Just use the terms 'hate', 'dj' and his name in the search phrase.

If he truly cared about the music, the people and the vibe that he creates, he would embrace the open, united, and collective culture that is everyone in the music scene today. He is just riding the wave for his own selfish benefit. Yes he can make a track or two, but I will never go to see him hit the play button on Ableton, pay for one of his tracks, or buy a cd of only his own songs.

A friend and I went to the local Vietnamese restaurant to get some Phở for lunch today. After the 2 inches of snow this weekend, it was a perfect meal to warm you up when it's cold outside.

I highly recommend going to a Vietnamese restaurant to get some Phở. They can put beef, chicken, vegetables, or a mix of things in. I usually add some chili sauce, sriracha, bean sprouts, jalapenos, mint leaves, and a squirt of lime juice. Mmm good!

Oh, and don't forget to get an order of spring rolls too!