http://www.particleman.org/ en Copyright 2010 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:29:10 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Bike Friendly Knox-Henderson and its goals are to improve cycling infrastructure in Uptown and parts of East Dallas, raise awareness of bicycling in the area, and get businesses and neighborhoods to support our endeavors. We've gotten some traction in the community and we're looking forward to improving cycling and transit options for people in our area. I've also been hard at work building a commuter bike. It started life as an early 80's Raleigh road bike. It will complete its transformation as a one-speed road bike purpose-built to not break down, not be expensive, and be totally fun to ride. Details coming soon... In other news, I learned how to ski (yay!) and I now wish we had skiing in Texas (boo).]]> http://www.particleman.org/2010/03/bicycle_advocating.html http://www.particleman.org/2010/03/bicycle_advocating.html bikes travel Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:29:10 -0600 ]]> http://www.particleman.org/2010/01/bike_training_and_disgracing_m.html http://www.particleman.org/2010/01/bike_training_and_disgracing_m.html bikes law this is broken Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:39:37 -0600 Unless you've been living under a media rock the past month, you may have heard of the new uber-epic semi-sci-fi extravaganza movie called Avatar. It's from James Cameron, that guy who gave us all kinds of sci-fi and grand-scale saga type movies of the 90s. I'm here to tell you it's worth your two and a half hours and $15 (if you spring for the IMAX). And spring for the IMAX you should. It's worth every penny. You get the true scale Cameron had in mind for the film and the 3D isn't the kind of 3D that makes you want to throw up, it's a 3D that adds the just enough depth to put you in the scene - not up close, but viewing from a safe distance. For those who don't care for sci-fi and would rather get a root canal than sit through Star Trek, or even The Matrix, fear not. Avatar actually has a story, and a love plot, and socio-political commentary. It's a blockbuster with brains. An action film with a conscience. If I don't sound like a nerdy movie critic way into cliches to you yet, keep reading. Even at two and a half hours, the movie does not drag. Pay even the slightest attention and the story will keep you moving. It has momentum. Several story threads progress concurrently, you know, just in case one of them bore you. You've got a love story. You've got a species survival story. You've got a war machine story. You've got an internal conflict story. And so on. Case in point: my mom, a 59-year-old woman who goes to sci-fi flics with my dad only because he has no one else to take, genuinely liked Avatar. I think that speaks for itself. http://www.particleman.org/2010/01/so_about_this_avatar_thing.html http://www.particleman.org/2010/01/so_about_this_avatar_thing.html geek Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:36:47 -0600 Thinking back on 2009, it's hard to pick anything in particular that seemed like a stand-out event. The one thing I know that I should probably change in 2010 is my lack of news-following. Since I don't have cable or satellite or Uverse or whatever the hell other television channel package thing people buy these days, and I don't get the newspaper, and I don't normally like to read news websites (trying to cut down on computer time), I get no news intake. I get my news from people who say, "Did you hear about ________?" Some notable things in the world of particleman for 2009: - CK moved to Dallas - I bought a house - I turned 30 - I sold my sporty BMW and bought a sporty-ish Mazda hatchback - I played a lot of shows with my Beatles band - My Beatles band ended - I met some awesome people - I went skiing for the first time ever - I went on some cool trips with CK - I saw a lot of great concerts - I parted ways with my Blackberry and returned to life with a non-email phone I hope you all have a great 2010. Just for reference, and so you don't start putting too much importance into New Years and the new year, I like to give a little context about this thing called the "year." In America, and a lot of other parts of the world, the year is about to be 2010. Elsewhere, things are different. Time moves the same, but they count it differently. In Israel, it's already 5770. In much of Asia, the year for tracking traditional holidays is 4707. The Hindu Saka year in parts of India is 1931, though apparently the government and much of the population doesn't care. In Muslim nations in the Middle East, the current year is 1431. So, if you're feeling anxious about this whole New Years thing, don't. A lot of people don't care that it's about to be 2010. They're still working through 1431, or they've already moved on to 4707. Happy holidays, happy new year, happy December 24 on the Gregorian solar calendar. http://www.particleman.org/2009/12/obligatory_year_end_post_a_lit.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/12/obligatory_year_end_post_a_lit.html Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:33:49 -0600 The Black Joe Lewis "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!" cd I got last week is really impressive. You gotta hear this cd. It's like James Brown on crack. If that's possible. They ran the singer's vocals through some kind filter, or engineered them somehow. The vocals sound simultaneously far away and in your face at the same time, and also somewhat distorted. It's a little hard to explain (clearly). My favorite lyric on the cd is in the song Get Yo Shit. The gist is that the singer is consoling his special lady friend who thinks Joe Lewis doesn't love her. She says he never buys her any presents. His response: "Yes I did, I bought you a box of chicken but I ate it on the way home." Then she asks if he even knows her name. He says, "Yeah, it's Melissa." "Naw dumbass, it's Roxanne." Bummer. http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/black_joe_lewis.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/black_joe_lewis.html music Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:37:07 -0600 remember him?) in two days. I sent my passport in for renewal with four weeks to spare, and they turned it around in about two and a half weeks, even though the website says it takes four to six weeks. So in case you were wondering, sending your passport in for renewal is a good idea after the summer travel rush but before the holiday travel rush. Evil I and I plan to do the backpack thing - that is, no suitcases, just a big traveler's backpack. We're also staying in hostels to make sure we give ourselves plenty of opportunity to meet people our age who are traveling. I did the backpacking thing in Europe for a month many years ago and liked it. I've been reading about the general dress code in Buenos Aires and, so far, I've gathered that BA is quite the fashion-conscious city. The blurbs I'm reading compare it to New York. My general rules when traveling abroad are: 1. No tennis shoes 2. No logo shirts 3. No backpacks 4. No caps 5. No cargo-style zip-off pants that travelers seem to like Basically, dress the way I do at home. But I would like to have some kind of bag for carrying water, camera, guide book, sunglasses, etc. I'm thinking the best option is one of those shoulder bag things. I have a Timbuk2 messenger bag that has served me very well for 10 years, but it's rastafarian green, yellow, and red colors may attract too much attention, so I may end up getting a simpler day bag of some kind. Then again, wouldn't the rasta bag make me stylish, and therefore I'd fit in? Whatever. I'll figure something out.]]> http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/argentina_two_days_and_countin.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/argentina_two_days_and_countin.html travel Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:45 -0600 Three quick show reviews for you. Regina Spektor - Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie - 11/12/09 This is my third time seeing Regina, and the first time I heard her new songs in their entirety. I listened to clips on iTunes but hadn't yet heard the full versions. Of the three shows, this was my least favorite. Regina seemed to rush through the songs and hardly said anything more than "Hi" and "Thank you." She's normally much more talkative and engaging. My sister saw Regina in Austin the night before and said Regain did the same thing in Austin. As always, however, she sounded great and the band helped provide additional texture and dynamics to the songs. I'm not that crazy about her new songs, though. I don't exactly know why, but something is missing that was on the previous albums. I'll look forward to her next record. All in all, I can't complain about the show. Any Regina performance is a treat. Her talent and creativity are hard to match and always put a smile on my face. She played plenty of old songs, including many I wouldn't have expected, and some acapella songs as well, one of which I think was entirely about the color of boys' eyes. She also busted out with Ode To Divorce, which I've never seen her do live. David Garza - Rock House Films - 11/13/09 I haven't seen David Garza in years. I don't remember when the last show was, but it was at least three years ago. Rock House Films is a "studio" in what amounts to a large-ish living room in someone's condo in Uptown Dallas. It's an intimate place for a performance - only about 70 people fit, all in folding chairs or couches - and the stage has hardly enough room for a drum set, a guitar player, and a bass player. Because we're on the verge of clocking over into the next decade, David made a point to work backwards chronologically through his albums. Since I've been out of the David Garza loop for quite a while, I didn't start recognizing the songs until about half-way through set, or circa 2000. He played many of my favorites from Overdub, This Euphoria, Culture Vulture, and Conmigo. Towards the end of the set, David realized he only had 15 minutes left until the music had to stop, so he raced through a bunch of dance-able songs and a small group of dancers, including CK and me, got up to shake it down in the small space in between the stage and the first row of folding chairs. Afterward, CK and I met David and took a picture, which we're hoping will be sent to us by the photographer girl we met. Swell Season - Palladium - 11/14/09 CK and I saw Swell Season at this same venue about a year ago, so it was a treat to see them again at the same place and observe the changes in their sound and stage presence. The extra year or touring, recording, and fame fared well on the group. They looked like they were having as much fun as they were last year and they played with as much heart, if not more. I didn't know any of the new songs, but they were great. Glen and Marketa are now touring with Glen's prior band, The Frames, and the added rhythm section, electric guitarist, and violinist really complete their sound. Of course, Glen and Marketa played plenty of songs on their own, but the most rocking moments were definitely with the band. Though there was one exception - a song I was hoping Glen would play. Last year, Glen played a Van Morrison song by himself. It was just his voice and his guitar, and it was awesome. He ripped through chords at light speed - on his acoustic, which seems like it would ruin the guitar, hence the massive holes in his old beat up Takamine - and screamed out the lyrics to the song (not even sure what they are) at the top of his lungs. He sounds like he's exorcising demons. Ridding himself of years of pent-up aggression and emotional baggage. It's quite a sight. At the end of the song, he loops his chords and the end result is a tidal wave of acoustic guitar. Walls of sound run into each other and reverberate against the walls and floors of the venue, flooding the space and then disappearing when he turns off the loop. If you have the chance to see Swell Season on this tour, and you're into the singer-songwriter vibe, go see this show. Their new songs and old songs are all worth hearing - and seeing. http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/show_reviews.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/show_reviews.html music Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:11:48 -0600 I'm really excited for this string of shows starting tonight: 1. Regina Spektor - lucked into some great seats for tonight's show at Nokia Theater. It's a larger venue than I've seen her at before, but I'm still excited. This will be my third Regina show. 2. Friday - David Garza - Rock House Films - I haven't seen David play a small show in years. I'm pumped to see him again in a small venue. I'm taking CK and this is her first time seeing David. 3. Saturday - Swell Season - Palladium - CK invited me to this show. We saw Swell Season at the same venue about a year ago, so it will be neat to see how they've changed. http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/three_days_of_music_concerts_t.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/three_days_of_music_concerts_t.html music Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:05:33 -0600 If you have a record player and the stylus (needle thing) is bent, do not play your records. The bent needle could damage the record. Get a replacement stylus. I found out last night that the stylus on my turntable was bent, probably during my last move, and I've been calling all over town searching for a replacement. None of the stereo stores in town carried them. I didn't feel like ordering one online and waiting 5 days. Then I tried Guitar Center. Jackpot. They carry them. So there you go. If you need a new stylus for your record player, find a Guitar Center, or other similar music store that carries DJ equipment. They should have one. http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/looking_for_a_record_player_re.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/looking_for_a_record_player_re.html music Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:20:02 -0600 CK's mom was gracious enough to give me a gift certificate to local music store Good Records for my birthday. I used the opportunity to go on a long-waited shopping spree for some albums I've wanted for a while. The take: - Rodrigo Y Gabriela - 11:11 (CD + DVD set) - Black Joe Lewis - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! (CD) - Mudhoney - SuperfuzzBigmuff (LP + MP3 download voucher) - The Jesus Lizard - Liar (LP + MP3 download voucher) I think it's really cool that you can buy an LP and get LP sound quality and also get digital versions of the songs to dump to your ipod or burn to CD. Or, better yet, I can hook up the record player to my music recording equipment and record tracks from the LP as if I were recording live music tracks. The computer won't know the difference. Hooray for RCA inputs! And Garage Band. Assuming Garage Band will be able to interpret the tracks and make MP3 files out of them. I suppose any signal fed through my USB interface will end up on one track on Garage Band anyway, which means I'd just make each song on the LP a one-track song in GB and then convert the songs to MP3. This post just got really nerdy. http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/new_tuneage.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/new_tuneage.html music Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:59:32 -0600 T-Mobile sent another white phone. This is the third white phone they sent. When I asked them to just cover the cost of the phone, since, you know, I've been waiting a month for the phone and I've had to make three trips to UPS to ship the phones back, they said all they could do was reimburse me for the shipping. Fantastic. All the lunch breaks I spent talking to them and driving to UPS are apparently meaningless. My solution: I'm going to a physical T-Mobile store to get the phone. I figure if I can look at it and make sure it's the right phone, it will be the right phone. Let it be known. T-Mobile customer service sucks. Their ordering process is awful. Expect nothing for your wasted time. Expect nothing from their "Customer Loyalty" department. Expect plenty of apologies, but nothing in the way of compensation for your time and effort. T-Mobile clearly does not care to hold on to long-time customers. http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/tmobile_update_still_the_worst.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/11/tmobile_update_still_the_worst.html this is broken Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:06:09 -0600 I'm not one to normally complain about customer service. I know that's how most of these stories start out, but this story is bad. Really, really bad. I was on a family plan with my parents and decided to go solo. T-Mobile let me apply my two years of loyal patronage and upgrade to a new phone for $50 and keep my awesome rate plan of unlimited minutes, anytime, for $50/month. Not a bad deal. I called T-mobile and ordered a black Nokia xpress music phone. T-Mobile sent it to my parents house in Houston instead of my house in Dallas. After a few phone calls with T-Mobile and UPS, we finally got the phone to my house in Dallas. Except that someone had to be home to sign for it, and after three attempts, they sent the phone to their warehouse. T-Mobile would not ship to my place of work, where I spend my days, like most people, because they had to send the phone to the billing address on the account. Fine. I go to the UPS warehouse, rip open the package, and instead of a black Nokia phone, I see a white Nokia phone. Wrong color. Great. I call T-Mobile and explain the problem. They apologize and promise to send out the right phone immediately and that I should expect a text message with the UPS tracking number. The package with the new phone will have a shipping label to slap on the package so that I can send the other phone back. Days pass. No text message. I call T-Mobile again and ask what the story is. Turns out they misinformed me how their "process" works. The process is that I have to send the phone back first, call them with the tracking number, and they will then send me the right phone. Ridiculous. Why I have to assume risk of a lost phone for their mistake is beyond me. They should send me the phone back and wait for me to send them their wrong phone, and should i keep the old phone, they should then have the right to charge my account for the extra phone. That's how it should work. I follow their process. I take the white phone to a UPS store, ship it, call T-Mobile again, give them the tracking number and shipping charge which will be credited to my account, and they promise to send the black phone. The new phone arrives, and this time, I don't need to sign for it. It's sitting on my porch. I rip open the package and see - another white phone. I call T-mobile (6th or 7th call by now) and again explain the problem. The customer rep again apologizes, and promises to make it right. Except - you guessed it - I have to go to a UPS store to ship the old phone back, though I don't need to so before they ship the right phone. Let's hope they finally get it right. I never had any problems with T-Mobile until this ordeal. And because of this ordeal, I have to tell you, if you have any plans of buying a phone from T-Mobile that you have not seen with your own eyes, do not bother. Buy your phone from someone else. T-Mobile is awful and this customer service experience has been a huge waste of time. I've heard good things about Verizon. Give them a shot. I'll keep you posted on any new developments. http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/tmobile_worst_customer_service.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/tmobile_worst_customer_service.html this is broken Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:28:40 -0600 Today is my 30th birthday. This is kind of weird. I bought a plane ticket to Argentina last night. I'm going in late November. That is all. http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/im_30_today_and_argentina_plan.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/im_30_today_and_argentina_plan.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:43:43 -0600 in years that I've been to. They absolutely owned the audience. It looked like it was their first concert, or their ten thousandth. They looked simultaneously comfortable and shocked to be on stage with everyone cheering for them. The highlight for me was watching Gabriela beat the shit out of her guitar. It's amazing to see her play live. I don't know how they designed that thing or what kind of microphones and pickups they rig inside of it, but when she slams her wrist down on the bridge the guitar booms like a drum (a floor tom for the musician readers). When she flicks her knuckles against the edges of the guitar, it sounds like two-by-fours banging into each other. She does wonders with that guitar. It's quite a sight, and it sounds like nothing else I've ever heard on a guitar. She creates rhythms that are complex and groovy, and make white people dance. Rodrigo, of course, treats his classical guitar like a thrash metal guitar, and it doesn't sound too far off when he gets to tearing out the barred chords that hit every string. It sounds pretty awesome and I especially enjoyed his solo time on stage without Gabriela. I like his writing style. Musicianship aside, the show was entertaining and engaging. They both consistently urged the audience to clap to the rhythm, and this was one of the few shows I've been to when the audience gladly obliged - every time. They took turns soloing when the other left the stage for a few minutes. They played a lot of new material, which fans will notice makes use of guitar effects like wah-wah pedals and maybe a phaser. Gabriela swapped her guitar for a small hand-held drum and Rodrigo took his turn on a box drum (the kind you sit on). I liked how they've mixed up the sound on the new songs. I don't think an entire album of bare guitar work would have been as cool as a record of guitar work filtered through some fun effects and accompanied by hand percussion. It seems that a concert of two musicians playing acoustic guitars would get repetitive after a while. No drum set. No bass. No vocals. No keyboards or pianos. But the advantage for R y G is in their ability to experiment with song structure and dynamics by limiting the number of people and instruments in the group. By restricting the number of possible sounds, they force themselves to invent new and better ways to create drama and excitement with their music. And they've become better at it than many "traditional" bands. There you have it. Go see R y G if you get the chance. Oh, and they told us they had to choose between playing Houston or Dallas, and since they "fucking hate" the Houston airport, they chose Dallas. Sucks to be you, Houston! Intercontinental, thank you for sending R y G to Dallas.]]> http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/rodrigo_y_gabriela.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/rodrigo_y_gabriela.html music Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:12:13 -0600 January 8, 2007. This would correspond directly with my last semester of law school, which was concluded with the following chain of events that probably explain why I haven't read a book since: 1. Studying for last semester exams 2. Studying for the Bar 3. Taking the bar 4. Moving to Dallas 5. Starting my job Plenty of people read books during the above events. I didn't. At least I don't think I did, or at least I didn't blog about it, which means I probably didn't. Though I may have started two books that I did not finish (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Guns, Germs, and Steel). My manager lent me a book called The Book Thief, which I also started, and also did not finish. The introduction did not hold my attention and I got bored. So it sat next to my bed. For about two years. Last night, I decided to give it another try. I'm glad I did. It's really, really good. The structure was a little odd at first. I didn't know what to make of the occasional "FYI" comments from the narrator in bolded and centered text. But I pushed through the first few chapters and it all started to flow eventually. I think I'll finish this book. The first one in at least two years. I don't know why i took such a long break between reading books recreationally. Maybe the Bar sapped away any interest I had in reading, maybe the task of transitioning from law student to lawyer took a lot out of me. Who knows. Either way, it feels good to read a story again. After reading contracts and agreements and licenses for two years, I think I'm ready for some reading that does not include the word "hereby."]]> http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/i_still_read_books.html http://www.particleman.org/2009/10/i_still_read_books.html books law Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:14:18 -0600