A while back I was informed about a music software known as FL Studio (Fruity Loops). As I listen more to the trance/electronic/dance genres, the application garnered even more of my attention, due to its background in production of this type of track, due to its intuitive UI and 4-on-the-floor basic setup. I've been experimenting with it mildly, and have made a couple things. I signed on to the Sonic 2 HD project working on the music, but my limited background has meant I haven't been much use so far other than lending an ear and giving my opinions.
I wanted to change that, and also try to produce some stuff of my own, so I'm moving forward now and really getting into charging through the tutorials. I've learned a great deal so far but I'm always looking to learn more. By the end of the summer I'd like to have some type of polished track available to listen to, and hopefully also figure out how to hook my keyboard into my computer and get that working. I could use a new soundcard for this to work though, I think I might invest in an upgrade... they've got some really good USB soundcards these days. Right now it is a PAIN switching back and forth between a shit soundcard and my headset. It would probably be a better idea for me to get a real mic, but this will do for now, and I'd rather have the soundcard upgrade anyway. I'm going to try to keep track of my progress on here.
On the sports front, I found a much more local soccer pickup group via Meetup. This one's in Jersey City, is cheaper, and tbqh is a lot more organized. Pitch quality might not be the best (we play on an open field in Liberty State Park), but the people are friendly, and a round trip isn't $10, just light rail fare. I've gone to the last 2 meetings, and looking forward to playing again. Really need to start going to the Frisbee meetup some more too... missed a couple times when I RSVP'd yes due to complications related to the stupid bag thief, but I'll get back. It's great exercise because it's a smaller group, which means I have to run more.
Well, that's all for now -- back to the reading. Happy 4th everyone. I'll be likely chilling in Hoboken since I don't have my new ID yet, maybe watch the fireworks tomorrow night and then come Monday start studying for the Materials final. Yikes :/
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Just My Luck
So, remember how excited and pleased I was to be getting some good exercise and seeing a new part of New York City? Yeah that didn't work out so well. Don't get me wrong the soccer was great, and the people were interesting and friendly.... but while I was playing I had my bag stolen. Lost my wallet, CCs, apartment keys, glasses, and my Ajax jersey. :/
Figures I decide to do something positive with my weekends for a change and this is what happens. Really ruined what had been a great weekend up to that point.
The only positives to take out of it -- At least I decided last minute not to bring my camera with me..... would have lost that too. It also appears that I might be covered under insurance for some of the items, most importantly my glasses. That would be a big help. I'm already out the $20 from my freshly-reloaded MetroCard and another $15 or so in cash, so at least if I can get the valuable items back (CCs were already cancelled) that would be helpful.
Beat up my leg in the weekend activity as well... not sure if I pulled a hammy or if there's something more sinister wrong with my knee.... Going to have the training staff on campus look at it tomorrow.
Figures I decide to do something positive with my weekends for a change and this is what happens. Really ruined what had been a great weekend up to that point.
The only positives to take out of it -- At least I decided last minute not to bring my camera with me..... would have lost that too. It also appears that I might be covered under insurance for some of the items, most importantly my glasses. That would be a big help. I'm already out the $20 from my freshly-reloaded MetroCard and another $15 or so in cash, so at least if I can get the valuable items back (CCs were already cancelled) that would be helpful.
Beat up my leg in the weekend activity as well... not sure if I pulled a hammy or if there's something more sinister wrong with my knee.... Going to have the training staff on campus look at it tomorrow.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Big Apple Sports Rounds
So, in my eternal quest for exercise and better conditioning, I will have touched foot in 2 boroughs of New York and upper Hudson County, NJ. Yesterday I played Ultimate Frisbee for a couple of hours at Weehawken's Riverfront Park on their turf football field, and in a few hours I'll be heading to Brooklyn's Prospect Park for some pick-up soccer. Gotta credit former political-based site Meetup.com for the opportunity.
In addition to helping me get in shape, I'm hoping it will help me be a little bit more "in the loop" about interesting goings-on in the city and nearby. For example, had I known about the "Webutante Ball" that Carlos N. was hyped about Friday night, I might have considered going.... seemed like a pretty interesting event overall.
However, I'm hoping this will help tackle a couple fronts.
In addition, I've really started picking up the gym time and (totally un-related to the rest of this post) the piano time. I'm sitting down to my keyboard a good 20-30 minutes a day most afternoons trying to learn some fundamentals that I sorely lack. This is shaping up to be a pretty productive summer!
Last note for me for the day -- if you haven't heard it, give the new 311 album "Uplifter" a shot. I've loved their sound since way back in the mid-90s hearing "Come Original" and have been hooked. I'm really considering going to their summer tour show in Holmdel later this month. I've heard they put on an awesome live show!
In addition to helping me get in shape, I'm hoping it will help me be a little bit more "in the loop" about interesting goings-on in the city and nearby. For example, had I known about the "Webutante Ball" that Carlos N. was hyped about Friday night, I might have considered going.... seemed like a pretty interesting event overall.
However, I'm hoping this will help tackle a couple fronts.
In addition, I've really started picking up the gym time and (totally un-related to the rest of this post) the piano time. I'm sitting down to my keyboard a good 20-30 minutes a day most afternoons trying to learn some fundamentals that I sorely lack. This is shaping up to be a pretty productive summer!
Last note for me for the day -- if you haven't heard it, give the new 311 album "Uplifter" a shot. I've loved their sound since way back in the mid-90s hearing "Come Original" and have been hooked. I'm really considering going to their summer tour show in Holmdel later this month. I've heard they put on an awesome live show!
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Long Overdue Update
So, I haven't updated this in months (yet again -- I know, I know) so I decided to get back in the blogging spirit.
School's going pretty well, can't complain, and of course it's almost the spring sports season, so that means calling Lacrosse and Baseball in abundance this year. It seems that we're doing baseball as a webcast, so if you're a fan of the sport and want to watch mediocre/decent D3 baseball, get an account for empire8.tv and watch our games. We've got another overly aggressive schedule, so hopefully the team can play up above themselves.
So, I'm hoping that it starts warming up, because I'm really looking forward to playing some tennis.... Swimming is going reasonably well, though I was a little lax last week and only got to the pool 1 time instead of my goal of 3 sessions a week of 50+ laps. I'm just trying to get out and do some more... by being active that's more than I would do normally -- even walking around a museum would almost be exercise compared to some of my days, especially when I stubbornly walk back to the PATH station from times square instead of taking the subway the 2 stops. I'd really like to get a bike, I think that would get me out and about a LOT more, see places I wouldn't normally. That will definitely be the case in the fall -- if I have a bike I will ride to a lot of road soccer matches, especially ones up at say, Montclair or Kean or NJCU.
But anyway, I'm feeling pretty good and hitting the books with limited procrastination, so I can't complain. I'd like to keyboard some more and maybe learn C++ or FL Studio like I've been meaning to for ages -- maybe over the summer for real this time.
More updates to come, I promise.
School's going pretty well, can't complain, and of course it's almost the spring sports season, so that means calling Lacrosse and Baseball in abundance this year. It seems that we're doing baseball as a webcast, so if you're a fan of the sport and want to watch mediocre/decent D3 baseball, get an account for empire8.tv and watch our games. We've got another overly aggressive schedule, so hopefully the team can play up above themselves.
So, I'm hoping that it starts warming up, because I'm really looking forward to playing some tennis.... Swimming is going reasonably well, though I was a little lax last week and only got to the pool 1 time instead of my goal of 3 sessions a week of 50+ laps. I'm just trying to get out and do some more... by being active that's more than I would do normally -- even walking around a museum would almost be exercise compared to some of my days, especially when I stubbornly walk back to the PATH station from times square instead of taking the subway the 2 stops. I'd really like to get a bike, I think that would get me out and about a LOT more, see places I wouldn't normally. That will definitely be the case in the fall -- if I have a bike I will ride to a lot of road soccer matches, especially ones up at say, Montclair or Kean or NJCU.
But anyway, I'm feeling pretty good and hitting the books with limited procrastination, so I can't complain. I'd like to keyboard some more and maybe learn C++ or FL Studio like I've been meaning to for ages -- maybe over the summer for real this time.
More updates to come, I promise.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Writing Difficulty and a New Movie Fan?
For the first time this semester (and in what can hopefully be a stable and solid trend), I can honestly say that I attended every single one of my classes this week. As you could no doubt imagine, I was quite pleased with myself. Nevermind the fact that I only had 2 days of classes. That's totally irrelevant. What matters is that I'm doing the little things I didn't use to do to get the important stuff done. Woke up at 9:15 with a 15 minute walk to class for 9:30? Probably would have been skipped back in the day. But both Tuesday and Thursday this week I gutted it out, got in 5 minutes late after the obligatory Bagels on the Hudson breakfast stop, and moved ahead in my day keeping the potential for success.
I've even read my assignments for Philosophy, a good thing when 10% of your grade is participation. My teacher seems to be one of those anti-corporation witches though, so hopefully my arguments to the contrary don't result in her docking me "personal anger and disagreement" points like liberal liberal arts professors tend to do.
The other positive outcome of the week is my 3 (yes 3) trips to the gym. I biked a combined 17 miles on Monday and Tuesday, and capped the 3 day run with a 20 lap set in the pool up on campus. I still feel tired when I probably shouldn't occasionally, but those instances are dwindling, and hopefully will soon be eliminated.
I still have a couple worries, though, despite these moral and actual victories. First, I'm worried I won't keep up the drive and focus. This should (surprisingly) be the least of the two issues. My major issue is that my writing desire seems to have gone COMPLETELY down the tubes. I've been trying to update Matchday as well as even simple posts here on Personal Ramblings, and I've been unable to muster up anything I felt like saying. 2 Helium Articles and a Blog Post in a month is absolutely unacceptable, especially if I want to return Matchday LIVE! to the type of readership I was getting in the first half of this year (last soccer season). Hopefully writing this will get those creative juices moving a little bit to end this killer writer's block. Thankfully, as anyone reading this will know, I'm a man of many interests, and have been able to stick with swimming and tennis as ways to keep myself occupied and less wasteful of time.
------------------------------------
One of the most surprising things for me is that I seem to have turned into a bit of a movie buff recently. Buff isn't really the correct term, since I'm generally clueless on big screen trivia. Aficionado would be more apt in this case. Normally I'm a "I'll see 1 or MAYBE 2 movies in the theatre all year" kind of guy. That would be the extent of my movie watching. I'll usually even pass up things that look good to save money and time, but never go and download them like I told myself I would at the time. Comparatively, since the beginning of the summer I've seen 6 movies in theatres (Dark Knight, Harold & Kumar 2, Get Smart, Clone Wars, X-Files, The name of the 6th eludes me) and I've watched a few others as well, including The Butterfly Effect (AMAZING AMAZING film by the way, check it out sometime.)
It's weird because the only other time I ever really got into movies was when I was spending time visiting Liz (herself a big movie fan), so the combination of having someone to share the movie with as well as her interest fueled my own. This summer however, I've had no such similar personal connection, yet my interest is still at least sparked. Granted I have gone with family or friends, but obviously nothing in terms of any sort of similar connection, I can't really explain it. Either I've seen movies in which the characters portray what I wish I was, or just going to the movies is one little way in which I'm taking a step forward toward more social interaction and stability. I'd like to think it's the latter, as I'd prefer not to seem so "suckered in" by acting, not to mention that explanation is a confidence booster.
----------------------------------------
Regardless of all this, I head forward into week 3 of the school year -- the work load will pick up, the homework will pile on, and the teachers will get tough. Everything will be balanced around heavy weekend work schedules. But despite this, I'm remaining confident that I can have a successful semester, and maybe find a couple other joys of a different kind along the way, preferably a significant fitness improvement or a relationship. Hey, you never know.
I've even read my assignments for Philosophy, a good thing when 10% of your grade is participation. My teacher seems to be one of those anti-corporation witches though, so hopefully my arguments to the contrary don't result in her docking me "personal anger and disagreement" points like liberal liberal arts professors tend to do.
The other positive outcome of the week is my 3 (yes 3) trips to the gym. I biked a combined 17 miles on Monday and Tuesday, and capped the 3 day run with a 20 lap set in the pool up on campus. I still feel tired when I probably shouldn't occasionally, but those instances are dwindling, and hopefully will soon be eliminated.
I still have a couple worries, though, despite these moral and actual victories. First, I'm worried I won't keep up the drive and focus. This should (surprisingly) be the least of the two issues. My major issue is that my writing desire seems to have gone COMPLETELY down the tubes. I've been trying to update Matchday as well as even simple posts here on Personal Ramblings, and I've been unable to muster up anything I felt like saying. 2 Helium Articles and a Blog Post in a month is absolutely unacceptable, especially if I want to return Matchday LIVE! to the type of readership I was getting in the first half of this year (last soccer season). Hopefully writing this will get those creative juices moving a little bit to end this killer writer's block. Thankfully, as anyone reading this will know, I'm a man of many interests, and have been able to stick with swimming and tennis as ways to keep myself occupied and less wasteful of time.
------------------------------------
One of the most surprising things for me is that I seem to have turned into a bit of a movie buff recently. Buff isn't really the correct term, since I'm generally clueless on big screen trivia. Aficionado would be more apt in this case. Normally I'm a "I'll see 1 or MAYBE 2 movies in the theatre all year" kind of guy. That would be the extent of my movie watching. I'll usually even pass up things that look good to save money and time, but never go and download them like I told myself I would at the time. Comparatively, since the beginning of the summer I've seen 6 movies in theatres (Dark Knight, Harold & Kumar 2, Get Smart, Clone Wars, X-Files, The name of the 6th eludes me) and I've watched a few others as well, including The Butterfly Effect (AMAZING AMAZING film by the way, check it out sometime.)
It's weird because the only other time I ever really got into movies was when I was spending time visiting Liz (herself a big movie fan), so the combination of having someone to share the movie with as well as her interest fueled my own. This summer however, I've had no such similar personal connection, yet my interest is still at least sparked. Granted I have gone with family or friends, but obviously nothing in terms of any sort of similar connection, I can't really explain it. Either I've seen movies in which the characters portray what I wish I was, or just going to the movies is one little way in which I'm taking a step forward toward more social interaction and stability. I'd like to think it's the latter, as I'd prefer not to seem so "suckered in" by acting, not to mention that explanation is a confidence booster.
----------------------------------------
Regardless of all this, I head forward into week 3 of the school year -- the work load will pick up, the homework will pile on, and the teachers will get tough. Everything will be balanced around heavy weekend work schedules. But despite this, I'm remaining confident that I can have a successful semester, and maybe find a couple other joys of a different kind along the way, preferably a significant fitness improvement or a relationship. Hey, you never know.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Why do people hate Fox News (general impending Election thoughts part 1)
(Copied over from a forum where I initially posted this)
People hate Fox News, now more than ever, because they tell the public the truth -- Obama is just another politician, and his "Hope" and "Change" are just buzzwords to get him elected.
Again, still a politician, still a Democrat. Nothing will change for the better with him in office vs. McCain...
We might leave Iraq, but big whoop, that's probably not the best idea at this point anyway, every time we seem to settle in there's a counter-push. There's nothing wrong with our current positioning other than the unfortunate loss of American life overseas, but these guys signed up for it, and when you talk to a lot of military officers, they seem to find their job very rewarding and beneficial, despite the risk of self.
We might get national healthcare (thankfully not mandatory), but then we're just creating a bullshit red tape over medicine that doesn't need to exist and costing the country unnecessary billions.
What we're more likely to get is 6-12 months of seemingly positive yapping with no real progress and suddenly a reversal on anything you thought the guy believed in -- taxes raised (because that's what Democrats do, idiots), more wasted government funds going to low-income populations, and no further effort on the side issue of the election -- curtailing earmarking.
Listen, my family's from South Jersey. It's not the best area in this country. And I can tell you for a fact that we're ALREADY wasting too much money on low-income groups... in Camden County alone. All the welfare system does is create welfare queens and support idiocy. The birth rate for those on government assistance is 3X HIGHER than the national rate. And you know what? These are the people overpopulating our towns and cities, giving birth to the next generation of single teen moms in major urban areas.
I hate to show people reality, but we're supporting the lazy, inept, and driveless with approximately 10-25% success return rate (approximate inner city HS graduate going on to college rate). It's time the politicians took a look at where they're putting money.
People hate Fox News, now more than ever, because they tell the public the truth -- Obama is just another politician, and his "Hope" and "Change" are just buzzwords to get him elected.
Again, still a politician, still a Democrat. Nothing will change for the better with him in office vs. McCain...
We might leave Iraq, but big whoop, that's probably not the best idea at this point anyway, every time we seem to settle in there's a counter-push. There's nothing wrong with our current positioning other than the unfortunate loss of American life overseas, but these guys signed up for it, and when you talk to a lot of military officers, they seem to find their job very rewarding and beneficial, despite the risk of self.
We might get national healthcare (thankfully not mandatory), but then we're just creating a bullshit red tape over medicine that doesn't need to exist and costing the country unnecessary billions.
What we're more likely to get is 6-12 months of seemingly positive yapping with no real progress and suddenly a reversal on anything you thought the guy believed in -- taxes raised (because that's what Democrats do, idiots), more wasted government funds going to low-income populations, and no further effort on the side issue of the election -- curtailing earmarking.
Listen, my family's from South Jersey. It's not the best area in this country. And I can tell you for a fact that we're ALREADY wasting too much money on low-income groups... in Camden County alone. All the welfare system does is create welfare queens and support idiocy. The birth rate for those on government assistance is 3X HIGHER than the national rate. And you know what? These are the people overpopulating our towns and cities, giving birth to the next generation of single teen moms in major urban areas.
I hate to show people reality, but we're supporting the lazy, inept, and driveless with approximately 10-25% success return rate (approximate inner city HS graduate going on to college rate). It's time the politicians took a look at where they're putting money.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Back in Jersey
So I'm back in New Jersey for what should be the majority of the remainder of the summer. At the very least I'll be here until just past the 4th of July (until around the 10th), and hopefully I can get a lot of pool time in during that stretch. I've dropped another couple pounds, to 205, but I still have a ways to go, and haven't been doing much by way of exercise (nowhere near as much as I'd like at least). I got a couple days of biking in, but the big problem was a lack of space for getting the cardio and whatnot in, and a lack of being at a location with fitness equipment. Swimming should make the best of it though.
In any event, what's going on...
I spent yesterday in Atlantic City, which is always a fun little diversion.
Can't really do much down there for another 4 months, but I did get swimming up on the rooftop pool, and took a few pictures at Caesar's -- there's some really nice Roman replica art in the lobby as well as out front. Plus, it's just nice to go down to the shore and relax a little bit, and eat for free at the awesome buffets. I'm all about big steaks and great seafood!
Still waiting to here ANYTHING from Stevens about my status there. I sent my Central transcript, but they're typically being slow and lazy, and I haven't heard a word. On top of that, I still have to deal with their stupidity regarding my work laptop from last year. Not sure if I mentioned that in here before -- I had a laptop that I used for my networking job last summer that was returned in late August 2007. In late April I got an e-mail saying that I needed to provide the receipt because they didn't have the laptop, or they were going to charge me. Ridiculous, you lose a laptop 9 months later and then come back to me? Come on -- utter garbage. So that will have to get dealt with soon as well. The receipt probably got trashed in January when I moved out -- I've moved twice since that point, and never had the laptop. I literally returned it the last day of work. A lot of stupidity going on at that university, I tell you.
Anyway, I suppose if weight and Stevens stupidity are my biggest problems I can't be too badly off. I'll take it. I have a couple goals for the summer, and I'd really like to achieve at least half of them.
GOALS
1. Hopefully I can get together with some friends down here in Jersey, or maybe even with some at home in CT when I return in mid-July. I haven't seen a lot of people in awhile. I'd also like to get up to central Jersey to hang out with Mike for a day and maybe play some tennis.
2. I need to finish my C++ in 21 days course.
3. I need to keep up with the swimming and play some baseball with my brother -- get in shape overall and lose some weight, maybe get down to 190 by the end of the summer.
4. Get the college situation taken care of.
5. Restart my blogs, especially Matchday Live. I have a new headset, so the voice issues shouldn't be a big problem anymore -- hopefully the audio can be crystal clear. In addition, I have some relatively stable wireless. Hopefully I can call a couple MLS matches, because the ESPN MLS announcers suck. Plus, I can get back in the swing for the season if I do return to SIT.
6. Finish downloading all of the Euro 2008 Matches. This will be contingent on actually finding working torrents of them all, and my 500 GB HDD coming down from CT with my grandmother in the car.
7. Reinstall Windows XP -- I'm sick of the bluescreening, but I think it's my USB ports or my motherboard and not the OS. We'll see, hopefully it's the OS and a fresh install will do the trick.
8. Get all TF2 achievements. Self-explanatory. This will be the only game I will devote significant time to this summer.
In any event, what's going on...
I spent yesterday in Atlantic City, which is always a fun little diversion.
Can't really do much down there for another 4 months, but I did get swimming up on the rooftop pool, and took a few pictures at Caesar's -- there's some really nice Roman replica art in the lobby as well as out front. Plus, it's just nice to go down to the shore and relax a little bit, and eat for free at the awesome buffets. I'm all about big steaks and great seafood!
Still waiting to here ANYTHING from Stevens about my status there. I sent my Central transcript, but they're typically being slow and lazy, and I haven't heard a word. On top of that, I still have to deal with their stupidity regarding my work laptop from last year. Not sure if I mentioned that in here before -- I had a laptop that I used for my networking job last summer that was returned in late August 2007. In late April I got an e-mail saying that I needed to provide the receipt because they didn't have the laptop, or they were going to charge me. Ridiculous, you lose a laptop 9 months later and then come back to me? Come on -- utter garbage. So that will have to get dealt with soon as well. The receipt probably got trashed in January when I moved out -- I've moved twice since that point, and never had the laptop. I literally returned it the last day of work. A lot of stupidity going on at that university, I tell you.
Anyway, I suppose if weight and Stevens stupidity are my biggest problems I can't be too badly off. I'll take it. I have a couple goals for the summer, and I'd really like to achieve at least half of them.
GOALS
1. Hopefully I can get together with some friends down here in Jersey, or maybe even with some at home in CT when I return in mid-July. I haven't seen a lot of people in awhile. I'd also like to get up to central Jersey to hang out with Mike for a day and maybe play some tennis.
2. I need to finish my C++ in 21 days course.
3. I need to keep up with the swimming and play some baseball with my brother -- get in shape overall and lose some weight, maybe get down to 190 by the end of the summer.
4. Get the college situation taken care of.
5. Restart my blogs, especially Matchday Live. I have a new headset, so the voice issues shouldn't be a big problem anymore -- hopefully the audio can be crystal clear. In addition, I have some relatively stable wireless. Hopefully I can call a couple MLS matches, because the ESPN MLS announcers suck. Plus, I can get back in the swing for the season if I do return to SIT.
6. Finish downloading all of the Euro 2008 Matches. This will be contingent on actually finding working torrents of them all, and my 500 GB HDD coming down from CT with my grandmother in the car.
7. Reinstall Windows XP -- I'm sick of the bluescreening, but I think it's my USB ports or my motherboard and not the OS. We'll see, hopefully it's the OS and a fresh install will do the trick.
8. Get all TF2 achievements. Self-explanatory. This will be the only game I will devote significant time to this summer.
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