A note to all users of the legendary forum. We got the subdomain set back up, so you can stop using the temporary URL and go back to using lifeboat.badcharacter.com

Posted: May 29th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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I rolled up to Connecticut on Thursday to visit my homeboy Tomàs in Nooka (aka Norwalk, etymology explained below). It was nice to get out of the city for a couple of days and catch some fresh air and home cookin’ that ain’t my own. We had some burgers and then to make it clear we weren’t going to indulge in this suburbanism thing too much, headed over to Yale for a rap show at Toad’s Place.

The headliner was the GZA of Wu Tang fame, an exciting prospect to be sure. I had not a clue what I was in for with regard to opening acts, so i was surprised to see the first act on was some dudes I’d caught for a few minutes at the Virgin Megastore next door to my building. I think the name of the group is Buck 50. I really dug their set and I kinda wished I’d grabbed a disk at the merch booth because I’m having trouble finding out about them post facto. But I digress. THe next act was Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox, which was totally sweet. He rocked the house. I would have paid the 20 bucks just for him. And then J-Live came out and I was like “HOLY CRAP!” I saw J-Live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last summer and he rocked then, and then I got treated to a second show and he rocked even more (even though the audience was getting impatient for some Wu Tang). GZA rocked. He did. He came out and kicked a bunch of ass and then kicked more ass just because he could. He actually forgot the lyrics to some verse toward the end and didn’t act embarrassed at all. He just said “fuck that shit” and freestyled for like 10 minutes to prove he could do whatever he wanted. And he freestyled well.

Anywhoo, as we were shuffling out in a daze because of the hip-hop awesomeness we had just borne witness to, I cruised past the merch booth to thank J-Live and Vast Aire for their sets. I grabbed Vast Aire’s new collaboration with DJ Mighty Mi of The High and Mighty called The Best Damn Rap Show. Now this kind of thing has bit me in the ass before (Example: When I saw Fellonious in concert and bought their CD and began my uncomfortable relationship with the wackest album in my collection), but I’ve been bumping this all weekend, and it’s very good. Maybe as good as The Cold Vein (Can Ox’s previous release) and a billion times better than Air Force One (High & Mighty’s previous release). If you’re a fan of musical recordings I recommend you purchase this album of songs.

Etymology lesson! Nooka is what we’re calling Norwalk these days. Here’s where that comes from: Brooklyn, NY is often referred to by people who are pressed for time or just happen to be into the whole brevity thing as “Booka.” Now, Norwalk, Connecticut, clearly having many similarities to Brooklyn including, but not limited to the fact that they are rhythmically similar, two-syllable words, certainly ought to have the same abbreviation.

Posted: May 22nd, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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Holy crap! I was ready to not post anything today when the zany scouser batonned me. I suppose I have to.

Total volume of music files on my computer: 22.9 Gb online 30-something off.

The last CD I bought was:
“The New Danger” by Mos Def

Song playing right now:
”Bitch in You” by Common Sense

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

“Mustard & Mayonnaise” by E-40
“Take a Walk” by Masta Ace
“I Found Lovin’” by Flatback Band
“Soul Flower” by The Pharcyde
“Oh! You Pretty Things” by David Bowie

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:

1. Benton Stephens
2. Ben Joseph
3. Bradley Allen
4. Jesse Meyerson
5. Joshua Jones

Look at all them Bs and Js. Gosh it was almost like a chain letter. Gross.

Posted: May 19th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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Well after weeks of emailing resumes out like mad and having only recieved a couple responses, I finally decided to busy myself with an unpaid gig for the time being. The gig is a production internship for an indie feature name of “Brother’s Shadow.” The people there are very cool. It’s at least a way to keep myself from slipping back into my heroin habit. Did I say heroin habit? I meant creamsicle habit. The point is, I’m occupied kind of now. I still want some money.

Otherwise I’d probably be wasiting my time blogging or something…

Posted: May 17th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite flicks ever. Definitely my second favorite of the Coen’s (The first being The Hudsucker Proxy). Tonight I reated myself to it over dinner.

Here’s what I had: An Amy’s Texas Style veggie patty with baby spinach, sliced cherry tomatoes, pepper jack, slices of avocado and habañero salsa on a poppy seed bun. It was one of my finest burger creations to date. When I own a gourmet veggie burger joint that will definitely show up on the menu.

I also ate the second half of the avocado which didn’t fit on the actual sandwich. It was absolutely joygasmic. It was more satisfying than taking a dump Slater-style while listening to Jay Z’s The Black Album and finishing a crossword puzzle. It was for about 30 seconds, as wonderful as it felt to finish the outline for The Legend of Fat Barry. I thought it was probably ripe yesterday, but I gave it another day just to mellow. My patience was rewarded. God I loves me some avocado. And peaches. My two favorite fruits.

Posted: May 13th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 1

My Internet friend-turned real life friend Bradley Allen is road trippin’ all over the place. He started in the Bay Area, drove up through all the major northwestern cities and into Canada. Now he’s heading east through that noble country and snappin’ photos and blogging the whole way.

I’ve heard he probably won’t have time to swing through the northeast, but I’m holding out hope. I always do.

I thought I’d share a link because the pics are fun to look through. I’m not totally sold on this new-fangled Flickr technology he’s using, but the more I look through all the photos he’s sharing, the more I’m digging it.

Posted: May 12th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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Posted: May 11th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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Ben Joseph, or as many have come to call him, Secondary Ben, has moved his blog from the dubious blogger.com to the much more prestigious and customer-freindly badcharacter.com. The new URL? Why, BenJoseph.BadCharacter.com, of course. He’s a funny funny dude, and you should definitely peep the new page because it’s going to blow your freakin’ mind.

Note: The thumbnail image of his site that I’m using in clearly has a picture of Ben Joseph touching a penis. Clearly. Unfortunately Secondary Ben has seen fit to remove that image from his site. We can only hope that it will one day resurface.

Long live the Bens.

Posted: May 11th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: none

I’m selling my PowerBook to make way for something smaller and lighter and more Café/backpack-friendly. I’m finally getting serious about selling it, so I posted it on Craig’s list!

From the posting:

• 17 inch wide-format screen with no dead pixels
• Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” freshly installed
• Superdrive (Burns and plays CDs and DVDs) 2X speed
• Built-in AirPort wireless ethernet and built-in Bluetooth
• 1 GHz G4 processor
• 1 gig of RAM
• 60 GB hard drive
• Nearly perfect exterior condition. I only see two flaws: there is a superficial scratch on the U key, and one of the rubber feet on the bottom has come off (I’m sure Apple would replace the rubber foot if you asked real nice)
• The power brick that came with the computer. Unfortunately I no longer have the extension cord for it, but it works perfectly otherwise.
• Brenthaven laptop bag specially made for the 17 inch powerbook. (This bag is specially certified for the computer and if the computer is damaged while in the bag Brenthaven will pay to fix it.) The bag usually retails for $150

Go check it out to see images. I would love to trade this powerbook for a fat stack of cash, so if you happen to have one that you’re not using, definitely send me an email.

Posted: May 10th, 2005 under Miscellaneous.
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We’re rocking yet another phatty-boom batty hack to de-suck a mistake Apple made in it’s latest OS. This time it was discovered that widgets directly downloaded from Safari will load directly into your dashboard widgets folder and cause mischief. Zack Schilling snapped his fingers and this quick and elegant little fix popped into existence. I made the icon, he made the script and the installer. We call it Widget the World Watcher, after the bizarre early-90’s cartoon show that we enjoyed in our youths. The little guy watches your widgets folder for new widgets getting automatically installed by Safari (and possibly for widgets that attempt to trash the environment).

If a widget is being installed, a dialog will pop up asking if you wanted to install it. You’ll have the options of allowing the installation, deleting the widget, or having it dropped on your desktop for later.

Widget was a little alien with the task of preserving and protecting the environment of planet Earth with the aid of his friends, three human children named Kristine, Brian and Kevin. It was generally extraodinarily well-written, non-violent and non-condescending, compared to the multitude of other shows which were only pandering to the P.C. market, but which were actually nothing more than advertisements for licenced merchandise with morals slapped on at the end. I am always amazed that a show of this integrity was ever realized.
—The Big Cartoon Database

Go us! Enjoy.

P.S. I stole most of the text of this post from the readme because I was feeling lazy. Don’t hate me.

Posted: May 9th, 2005 under Projects.
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