You could learn Sanskrit.

buaidhnobas @ 2009-11-26T17:40:00

2009-11-26T22:41:00Z

Just wanted to take a quick moment to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

buaidhnobas @ 2009-09-07T01:09:00

2009-09-07T05:12:35Z

It's amazing what a conversation with an old friend can do. In one moment I went from thinking the worst of myself and having no confidence in who I am and what I can do to remembering exactly who I am and what I am capable of and, with that realization, found the confidence that I needed to be able to kick all asses that need kicking and melt all faces that need melting.

I'm back.

buaidhnobas @ 2009-07-25T13:22:00

2009-07-25T17:27:15Z

It's funny. As much as I loathe just about everything from my first marriage, including the way both she and I acted, there is one thing I seriously have to thank my ex-wife for. As I look back at everything that's happened since moving to Albany, in all honesty had it not been for my ex-wife I would never have even tried to join a band. Now, I'm in a metal band that is working on releasing its first album, writing material for its second album, and is starting to gig more and more.

So, and I know that most people would never expect me to say anything even remotely like this to my ex-wife, thank you. Even though things ended as they did, your push to get me back into music has lasted and has served as something that has brought me joy over the years and if I truly want to give credit to where it is due, I have to thank you for giving me that push.

Semi-Important: ATTN ANULLMENT WITNESSES

2009-06-14T14:27:48Z

Hi,

If you are one of the 4 people I asked to be a witness to the Diocese of Albany Tribunal concerning my anulment, chances are you've received a packet in the mail within the past couple days. Here's the deal. The tribunal needs these back in 20 days or so. I am willing to reimburse for postage to mail the packet back in.

Now here's the deal. On the front of said packet is a box. If you sign that box, the tribunal will hold your testimony in confidence even from my ex-wife and myself. I'm going to ask that all of you sign that little box. I recognize that in most cases you all interact with both my ex-wife and myself to varying degrees, and I don't want anything in that packet to interfere with anyone's relationship to anyone else...

...well, beyond me being granted the anullment from my ex-wife that is.

And now for something completely different...

2009-06-04T02:15:01Z

Dio is back. He encountered legal issues regarding billing the band as the DIO version of Black Sabbath, so they're calling themselves "Heaven and Hell." It's slower, it's more melodic, it's DIOtastic. Totally recommended.

buaidhnobas @ 2009-05-30T09:01:00

2009-05-30T09:02:22Z

So, in the past 10 seconds/minutes/hours/days/months/years have I told you exactly how much I hate waking up in the middle of the night with a sinus migraine so bad I have to keep awake and sitting up in order to ensure the meds stay down?

buaidhnobas @ 2009-03-23T19:28:00

2009-03-23T23:31:30Z

Sunday - March 28th, 2009 9PM - 10PM EST:

Go to www.albanyedge.com and click the "Listen Live Now!" link. The radio show is Capital Underground. My band has been interviewed, and it's being aired then.

The smallest of victories...

2009-01-02T22:37:50Z

This is going to sound stupid. To some of you who have known me through the years, known what I used to be able to do, and know what I felt I had lost over the years... you know what this will mean to me even though it's dipshit simple. Yes, I'm looking directly at you Singe, Toku, and Necro...

I wrote, compiled, and ran a simple "Hello World" program in C++.

Virtualization

2009-01-02T21:58:08Z

It never ceases to amaze me how much virutalization confuses and arouses me simultaneously.

In the past, I never really considered products like VMWare or Virtual PC because quite frankly it seemed impossible to get anything close to reasonable performance out of them. I'm not 100% sure when this changed, but so far this is seeming to justify me taking the money I'm slowly saving toward building the PC playground I used to have and throwing it at ram and processor because, if I do, I can have 3 virtual PC's running in the background being my playground on my main computer without requiring a KVM or rapidly increasing my power bill.

Methinks it's time to look at quad core processors and 8gb worth of ram.

For All Who Wish To Come

2008-10-22T13:09:14Z

I'm throwing this one out there for any / all who can and will come.

Tonight, my indie/alternative band Dogsbody is taking on The Stitch and Awake in a battle of the bands over at Jillians. The winners tonight go on to the finals on October 29^th. Dogsbody will be playing from 8:00 – 8:25, The Stitch from 8:45 – 9:10, and Awake from 9:30 – 9:55. The person who booked us stated there was no cover tonight for the battle, so if they are charging cover I will be upset. ½ of the scoring is based on audience votes, so we could use all the support we can get.

buaidhnobas @ 2008-09-26T14:37:00

2008-09-26T18:43:42Z

Okay folks, here's the skinny. Many of you have requested to know when either of my bands will actually be playing a gig. Now, if you would have asked me a week ago which band I thought would be gigging first, I would have replied my metal band. I would have been mistaken.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 22nd 2008, starting at 8pm.
WHERE: Jillian's - Downtown Albany
WHO: DOGSBODY
WHAT: Battle of the Bands

We're going to need as many people there as can possibly come. Half the scoring is by a panel of judges. The other half is by "audience reaction." What this means is half our score that determines if our 25 minute set was good enough to go onto the finals is based on how many people cheer very, very loudly for us.

In case you missed my original description of the band, Dogsbody is my alternative band. We're covering a broad range of early alternative / indie music including covers from Weezer, Radiohead, Stone Temple Pilots, Bare Naked Ladies, and many more including some original tunes written by the talented pgnblade . That's right folks. You know us, you love us, and it's local so come SHOW us that love by screaming your heads off for Dogsbody!

OMFG...

2008-09-19T14:50:56Z

I'M GONNA BE AN UNCLE!!!!!

buaidhnobas @ 2008-08-21T23:19:00

2008-08-22T03:55:15Z

I can't sleep, I'm frustrated, I'm not sure what's up. However, I needed a direction to vent and I remember catching Mike the Enforcer over on the Edge saying that a new single from the upcoming Metallica album was now available for sampling.

After the steady decline since the black album, I thought this would make an easy mark. I headed over to metallica.com, and the top news article was a link to stream "The Day That Never Comes." Ulrich put the coils back on his snare, and it definitely sounds far better in terms of production values.

The first thing I noticed actually was how similar the beginning of the song is to the acoustic part in the middle of "To Live is to Die" off of And Justice for All. They tweaked it a bit, but it's similar enough that it only took me a few seconds to place what it sounded like. They even used the same effects. Hetfield kicked in on vocals, and... if I was to compare the vocal style and feel to their past work I'd say one part "Fade to Black" meets one part "Unforgiven II". As I'm listening, I find myself thinking "It's not great, but it's not St Anger. I must write a thank-you email to the new producer though for not massively cocking this one up."

...and then 05:00 rolled over in the song...

At this point they had my full attention. The guitars kicked in the thrash, Hetfield interjected lyrics one last time, and then they went into full balls old school thrash where timings were tight, riffs were complex, and for the first time in a LONG time the solo was just so incredibly good. They didn't even abuse the wah pedals. In the end, when they're all in unison on the fast riff, I was shocked.

I was so shocked I got my good headphones, put the track on loop, and started listening to it over and over. Now that the initial "thank god at least one song on their new album is worth buying" relief was over, and I was starting to see some of the themes in my head being drawn from their older work in a slightly different way, I wanted to try to get a feel for the song.

And the more and more I listen to it the more and more I hope it stays this quality through the rest of the album. If it does, I think it's safe to say the boys are back for the first time in 20 years.

buaidhnobas @ 2008-06-27T09:16:00

2008-06-27T13:19:51Z

Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to vote. Unfortunately, Ashes of Ruin will not be in the Battle of the Bands. A lot of REALLY GOOD ACTS didn't make it either (in fact, I was really surprised by the results), so I take this as no mark of shame.

I personally don't plan on slowing down, so as we have more announcements I will relay them to you as I can! Even if you didn't vote, thank you all for the morale support you've given the past week!

The Nagging Continues...

2008-06-26T11:53:51Z

Hey all! This is your reminder to, if you haven't done so already, please take a moment to vote for Ashes of Ruin!

Tomorrow (6/27/08 @ 9:00am) they're announcing the bands that will continue on in the contest. Those 6 bands will compete for a chance to open Big Day Out in a battle-of-the-bands at Northern Lights on 7/12/08. Please show Ashes of Ruin your support!

buaidhnobas @ 2008-06-25T15:25:00

2008-06-25T19:27:14Z

It's gotta be a sign of good things when, after busting ass all day, I suddenly realize "oh yea, I was married today 3 years ago and divorced today 2 years ago" and all I do is shrug and keep on kicking ass.

buaidhnobas @ 2008-06-23T12:23:00

2008-06-23T16:35:20Z

So, it's apparently official and available information on the interweb. I should probably take a moment to announce it now.

Ashes of Ruin is entered to compete for a chance to open up Big Day Out.

It works like this. We signed up and submitted our song. You can vote for your favorite, though this is only PART of the decision making process, the other part being the panel of judges. From this large group of bands, only 6 will be chosen on Friday, June 27th. Those bands will compete in a battle-of-the-bands to decide who will be the opening group.

We have some stiff competetion. Please show your support!!!!!!

Public Updates

2008-06-22T06:04:50Z

I can't sleep right now. I'm exhausted, but I simply cannot sleep.

So, the saga of even trying to get the Roman Catholic Nullification of my previous marriage started is continuing. It's mind-boggling to me that it's almost been two years since the civil divorce was finalized and I'm still trying to get things sorted out with the church. Mind-boggling and disheartening. The fact that the church's paperwork concerning the matter has apparently disappeared is not helping things either.

My priest has to check on a few options for me, and so far the most promising one is the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, my ex-wife was never baptized during the time we were married. If that's the case, then there would have needed to be special paperwork filed with the diocese to allow the marriage to take place. If that paperwork doesn't exist, then the "short" process can proceed. If not, insert a year long process here. No matter what though, it appears I will need to get a hold of my ex-wife and get some information from her.

No matter which route this goes however, my priest wants to at the very least informally put me through my side of the long process. It, from what I've been told, involves a lot of introspection about things that for the past two years I've honestly been very happy to bury in the past and NOT think about because, quite honestly, thinking about those things hurts. I don't like hurting. I've worked very hard these two years NOT to hurt anymore. Unfortunately, it's not looking like I have any other acceptable choice in the matter.

Musically things go about as well as they can go right now. I'm in two groups. Things are going well with them, though lately I've been getting so stressed that when I play I try to put my fingers THROUGH the fretboard, and .125ga low-b bass strings have a nasty habit of taking chunks of finger with them when sliding too hard across it, as my left index finger can attest to right now. The good news is that with the way it's healing I'll have one hell of a callous for future sliding. After trading in some old equipment I finally have a bass rig I think will hold me until gigging money starts coming into the picture - especially now that I have both the 2x10 and the 1x15 cabinets. I'll let people know publicly when I have gigs.

I'll update people more as I have more.

~headdesks~

2008-04-18T18:15:18Z

Seriously folks, at this time I have to send a big simultaneous "Thank you" and "FUCK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!" out to deathsangel24. Why? It's simple.

"Mortal Combat vs. DC Universe"

I will now be, for all intent and purpose, waiting with ueber-high levels of anticipation and horror.

buaidhnobas @ 2008-04-02T14:45:00

2008-04-02T18:49:11Z

A lot of people in my life are going through a lot of frightening things right now. Some of them went willingly into said situation knowing that what they face now was a possibility. Others were blindsided. Either way, all I'm going to say is that y'all will be in my prayers.

400 BABIES!!!!!

2008-03-01T14:58:27Z

Updates on recent issues...

2008-02-29T03:17:35Z

So, a BIG thank you to all who chimed in with advice on the recent power problems. Wanna hear something really funny?

I was in the process of relaying the information I was generously given by you all to the superintendent, who was in my apartment with the heater repairman when I returned home from work, when he had to go outside to try to get cellphone signal as my apartment is very bad as far as reception goes. As he's pacing around, he catches something out of the corner of his eye. On a tree, just outside of where my furnace is, was a power outlet. The wiring to it was so old the staples holding the wire to the tree were rusted and cutting into the insulation, and in some places the tree had actually GROWN AROUND THE WIRE. Voltage meters were hooked up, and indeed the voltage to the highly crispy and horribly miswired GFI outlet was ranging between 40 volts and 150 volts. Apparently one of the previous residents decided they wanted an outlet on the tree so they could run Christmas tree lights outside and did it themselves. So, the outlet was removed and so far so good.

So cross your fingers folks, the problems may be over.

PUBLIC POST - IS THERE A MASTER ELECTRICIAN IN THE HOUSE???

2008-02-25T17:12:49Z

Okay. Here's an explanation - reader's digest style - of the "fun" my landlord and I have been having since Thursday.

On Thursday, I had electrical problems. It wasn't the first time it's happened. The first time I lost all my desktop computers, which I wasn't openly sobbing about because they were all ancient and I wanted an excuse to upgrade anyway. This second time, the only casualty that I was aware of was one AC/DC power adapter and the gas heater in my apartment. Naturally, this time, the landlord was more upset as the heater requires COMPLETE REPLACEMENT, and that's not cheap.

On Friday, he and his people stopped in to check things out. National Grid at that point checked things out and said "well, it didn't affect anyone but those four apartments on the same stripe of meters again, so the problem MUST be someone overloading the circuits. Well, of those 4 apartments guess who's the technophile? Yep. He took one look at my entertainment center and sighed. Then, he examined the surge protector and saw that it was burned out, with openly visible char marks on one of the bars of 3 plugs. So, he concluded what any sane person would conclude. My massive entertainment center may be the culprit. He took the charred surge protector and called me up simply stating "stop overloading the circuits, you can't have all that stuff plugged in." There was no mention that he took my surge protector, and thus I had an unpleasant surprise waiting for me at home - making me think he or his people stole from me.

Over the weekend, I took the advice of a friend based on the fact that, frankly, none of this has been a problem for the past year. I borrowed his Kill-a-Watt meter and took realtime figures of the volt, amp, and wattage usage of my equipment. Having safely determined that my equipment isn't even using 25% of ONE of the two 20-Amp circuits, but still believing my apartment was the only one effected, I decided the best course of action was to meet with the landlord and say "I could have everything plugged in on those two circuits on the SAME circuit and STILL not cause problems. Can I have my surge protector now?"

So, today I decided to call up and make sure that he would be in during my lunch break. I ended up speaking with the building manager, Juan, who clued me in on the surge protector part - that the surge protector was charred and taken to show the electricians AND to prevent potential fire hazard. Okay. I can deal with that. In fact, I can deal with that nicely. It explains why he thought I was the cause, and it shows he's working toward preventing my shit from igniting AND that he's working on the problem.

I then headed to the office, armed with the generously loaned Kill-a-Watt and a copy of my testing results signed by two witnesses, bracing for what I thought might turn into a showdown. Since I had hard facts, I went in with a smile and tried the following tact:

"Hi. I know you said you were concerned about me overloading circuits, so I checked everything I had plugged into the outlets in both those rooms and here's the results. As you can see from the tests, which I'm fully willing to duplicate for you, my stuff _SHOULDN'T_ have caused a problem, however I have no explanation for the surge protector charring other than perhaps it's a defective one. What should I do?"

He responded by clarifying a few points that had not been previously communicated to me. Apparently, after he made the slightly annoyed phone call, he discovered ONCE AGAIN that mine was not the only unit affected, and additionally mine was not the only heater that was taken casualty. National Grid had no explanation, as none of the master circuit-breakers that they would handle were tripped, beyond "someone's overloading their in-apartment grid." Again, it was only the 4 apartments "on my bar of meters". Thanks to my research, he is fairly confident that National Grid was incorrect - as if ANYONE IN THOSE FOUR UNITS was capable of doing it, I would. Since my stuff isn't operating ANYWHERE NEAR that volume, he figures NONE OF US ARE. This does, however, lead to a rather interesting enigma which he gave me permission to blog about in hopes of potentially figuring out what is going on.

Here's the sitrep. The power for my building goes into a master control panel. At that panel, it first goes through the master breaker, and then is split off into two "banks" as he put it of meters for all the apartments, with half the apartments on one and half on the other. From there, there are columns of meters. There are 4 meters to a column. So, essentially, 4 apartments tap into the master feed at the same place. From there, the power splits off from the meters THROUGH YET ANOTHER BREAKER to the individual apartments, where it's distributed through the circuit breaker to the places that power goes in my apartment.

Now, the problem that keeps occuring is effecting only my "column" of meters. So, each time so far that power has gone wonky, the other three apartments on my column of meters ALSO get fried. Each time this occurs, NONE OF THE BREAKERS are being tripped. Not the master breaker, not the bank breaker, not any of the 4 breakers between the meter and the 4 affected apartments, or any of the circuit breakers in said 4 apartments. The in-apartment breakers have been inspected and appear to be in working order. National Grid has inspected the breakers and their equipment, and have not found a problem. I have inspected my equipment, and have found everything to be operating LAUGHABLY below capacity for the breakers (420W or so, 5Amps - and that's running EVERYTHING).

Yet something is going on or we wouldn't be having problems, and said problems are ONLY affecting those apartments who tap into the bank on the same line as my meter resides, and whatever is causing the problem... it's not tripping ANY breakers. What could be the problem?

buaidhnobas @ 2008-02-08T21:50:00

2008-02-09T03:12:01Z

Okay. Seriously universe. Why do you toy with me so?

With my chica in tow I decided to head to Guitar Center to do a bit of price scouting. pgnblade had shared some wisdom regarding Line 6 amps with me and how good they actually do record. Well, after reading specifications I found out that the Spider III HD150 was NOT 150W, it was 2x75W stereo, which does NOT a 150W amp make. It's a good thing I went in to check it out. I wasn't happy with the way ANY of the presets sounded, and it was fairly quiet.

So I'm talking with the assistant manager and salespeople I usually talk to about equipment. They actually like when I show up. They don't care if I'm just looking, as the people there know that I've not only spent good money there but that I bring people with me to spend good money when people need things. So, my fiance and I went looking around at different amps. When Line 6 failed to excite me, I tried various tube and solid state Peavey amps. When I determined that the only Peavey guitar amp that I liked the sound of was the Peavey 6505+ which costs $2000 or so for a half-stack, I moved on. Tried Vox. Not what I was looking for, but surprised about the amount of gain Vox actually has on some of their newer amps.

Then I tried the last brand that I thought I'd EVER want: Marshall. Not even the high end tube based Marshalls like the JCM800. I tried THIS. It had good built-in distortion. It had good chunk. It was nice and loud. It had the emulated line out / headphone out just like the Line 6 - which is what was making me consider Line 6 in the first place. It was really weird if only because I've always written off Marshall as overpriced and yet here was a $600 marshall sounding better than $700 - $900 amps from other brands. On top of all that, it actually sounded dynamite with the type of guitar I own.

buaidhnobas @ 2008-01-20T18:01:00

2008-01-20T23:05:56Z

Announcement:

Nothing makes me happier to announce that Gabrielle and I are getting married!