Here Are Your Papers...

  People in general never cease to amaze the living hell out of me. But there are some who go above and beyond the call of complete lunacy. They're rare, but lately, it seems like they've been coming out of the woodwork with a little regularity, and it's starting to frighten me just a little.

  Here's a little rant for you: People work to make a living. They depend on the regularity of paychecks and plan thier schedules accordingly. But sometimes, the superior plain old slacks off, and the regular folks' plans are put into a nosedive. Things like, say, not showing up to sign a stack of paychecks that have been printed out for over a week. Especially when you tell people you will on such-and-such a night, not show, and not call anyone to say why...

  To those people, I say: Idiots...

  Some folks make rash decisions in the heat of a moment. I'm prone to doing this myself, so I can't fully call the kettle black on this one. But my rash decisions can't compare to some of the more sudden and abrupt decisions some people make. When you look at it up close, you can't seem to find any sense in it, really. Some might call it borderline naive...

  To those people, I say: Good luck. You'll need it...

  Folks do some pretty incredible things when they're wasted. This is why I never drink just for the sake of getting trashed. I like a nice buzz, that's it. But these people, they show up to the bar trashed! And early at that! Then, they have several options: A) There are hotties about, and they attempt (and fail) to pick them up. B) They try to start fights with those who, to them, are inferior for some stupid reason. C) There's noone inferior to them around, so they fight with each other.

  To those people, I say: Morons.

  There are those that would say "Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged Yourself." Well, judge away. My life is an open book, you read it in these HTML files, and I have nothing to hide. I'm by no means perfect. But hey, there are alot worse people out there than simple old me...

Posted by Eric @ 5:50am, 04-30-04

Insert Generic Title Here

  Yep, that's pretty much the extent of my creativity this morning. Oh well. Win some, lose some.

  I suppose I should say a word about Shut Up And Play. To sum it all up, I'll use the name of one of the appearing bands, and the one that got screwed out of thier playing time: Bad Idea.

  Of course, nothing ever starts "On Time" in this business, so Lacey didn't get on stage til around 5:30. Everything went fine for her. Next came Hollow Bodys, an accoustic act. At the end of thier set, the power amps pushing the main speakers suddenly died mid-song, and then came back to life a minute later. This happened only once to them. Bad Idea didn't fare so well...

  When Bad Idea took the stage, we knew that something was wrong. They were the first high-energy act of the day, and often pump out quite a bit of sound. As thier former roadie and assistant sound guy, this was apparent to me before they even arrived. But no, the sound guy fell asleep at the wheel.

  As Tommy, Travo and Kramer valiently forged through thier time (with Tommy losing his temper more than once and Travo breaking the input on his bass), Gary and I scrambled to find out what was wrong. Thinking we were throwing breakers, we checked boxes, plugs, circuts, and basically had to map the stage electrical system on the fly. But none of this worked.

  At the end of thier set, they were a wreck. Tommy was ready to throw down his guitar in disgust. Travo was fighting with a borrowed bass, and Kramer was just trying to stay calm, playing drum riffs to fill silent spots. We still hadn't zeroed in on the problem, and decided to fix it on the fly during our set.

  Getting John on the board solved everything. He discovered that the sound guy had everything redlined, sending way too much signal to the power amps, overloading them and tripping thier internal breakers. A quick zeroing out and readjustment session fixed all problems.

  Except for the drunks in the crowd.

  A few morons decided it'd be fun to get lit and come see a bunch of bands play. Well, you know what happens when you mix alcohol and stupid rednecks - you get drunk, obnoxious stupid rednecks. This, I came to learn, led to the state police being called, breathalizer tests administered, and tickets for drunken conduct issued. Wonderful.

  But thankfully, at that point, I had to leave to work at Electric Avenue! After that point, I do not know, nor do I much care, what happened. That we'll leave to the annals of local music history. There won't be another Shut Up And Play, sadly. Or maybe not so sadly...

  Oh well. Such is life, I suppose...

Posted by Eric @ 8:52am, 04-28-04

Hey You...

  Today, I await what could be a very lucrative oppertunity for me, and it comes in the form of a phone call. I don't want to say much about it at this point, other than it has nothing to do with my sappy romanticism at all. This is business, pure and simple...

  As far as I'm concerned, my time has come. Things have been going great lately. Tonight, I picked up some much needed hardware for both mine and Justin's computers, including a webcam for the DJ Booth, and a USB hub and optical mouse for me. Soon, I'll be able to burn CDs again, which will be nice. It'll be slow, but then again, so is this machine...

  Couple all this with two jobs that keep me afloat, an active social life (ironically, thanks to both jobs), and my music career waiting in the wings, and you'ld think I was in good shape for once. It's been a VERY long time coming, that's for sure. My act is finally together.

  And now, I'm ready to bring it to the world at large...

Posted by Eric @ 5:20am, 04-26-04

Reluctantly Crouched At The Starting Line...

  Things are improving. Skills are being learned and quickly mastered. Orgaization is coming around. We have the tools, we have the talent. All that's needed is one spark. A negotiation here, a sacrifice there.

  Above the flashing lights and thundering rhythms, one kid strives to make real a dream. Zeros and ones, pixels and light, color and sound. Before the cold glow of a monitor, he works into all hours of the night, tinkering, tooling, teaching himself many things. Some, he's known for a while and are getting refreshed. Others, brand new, quickly assimilated and polished.

  The dream he chases is the begining of somthing he started many years ago. Dreams of a life without too much worry, the ability to stand on his own and declare himself better than what those around him said he could be. To prove them, and the world, wrong. That he could be something more than what his surroundings dictated. That who he was meant something.

  So now, above the crowds and chaos, he sits alone. While they play and try to forget reality for a while, he works to build a better reality for himself. One kid, apart from the rest of the world. A kid with something to prove to only one person - himself...

Posted by Eric @ 6:01pm, 04-24-04

When April Showers...

  Content alert! I've finally got 'round to adding the new [nyc trip gallery to The Ranch! 20 pictures of me and Justin goofing off in Manhattan, including one hottie of a bartender and a sweet Jaguar!

  Oh yeah. I should mention that there's a new entry in the I'd Hit It Gallery, but it might tick some people off. Oh well. She said I could put it up. In fact, she demanded to know if she'd actually be a part of it. So welcome the latest addition to the list, April...

Posted by Eric @ 2:47pm, 04-23-04

I (heart) NY

  Screw Nashville. Screw Pabst-drinking yokels and screw thier country music. Monday night, I hit the mother of all cities, New York CIty. Justin and I rolled up to visit some clients the next day, not to mention get some work done on his car at [motion mania] in Stroudsburg. All in all, it was a very fun trip, and my first time hanging out in Manhattan.

  I'll have some pictures up in a brand new gallery sometime in the next 24 hours, as soon as I transfer them from Justin's computer to mine. For right now, though, just picture me sitting at the upstairs bar in Tonic Met Lounge, talking with a beautiful Irish import bartender, drinking Guinness and complimenting the place on its decor...

Posted by Eric @ 10:45pm, 04-21-04

Rock & Roll Pumpkhin (Say It Again)

  Today is Shut up and Play 3, and Tempered Edge is ready to take the stage and rock the house! We're the last normal band in the line-up (fourth overall), and after us, that hardcore noise starts up and the kids can get lost in thier angst and misguided hostility.

  But if you can make it down, I highly encourage it. Rowland Theatre, Philipsburg, doors open at 4pm, first act (vocalist Lacey Danko) goes on at 5pm, and it's only $5 at the door. Come on down and rock out with the best Central PA Rock has to offer! Oh yeah, and you can listen to that hardcore noise, too...

Posted by Eric @ 1:30pm, 04-17-04

Prophets And Paupers

  To be a prophet, one must prophecise something. That is, to predict future events in great detail. To the Islamic faith, their prophet is Muhammed. The Christians have Jesus. But those are two of the best known ones. Sometimes, everyday people can become prophets, even without having any idea that they are in fact reciting a prophecy...

  Think on that while I get some sleep. I'll explain why I'm just now going to sleep at 9am later... Oh yeah. Happy Birthday, [erina]...

Posted by Eric @ 9:01am, 04-15-04

Dum da da da da da da Dum da da Duh da da da...

  Hope everyone had a decent Easter. I know I did...

  I'm submitting this to Fark as a Photoshop contest. The idea is take an old 70s or 80s TV show and tweak them for modern actors. As you can see, I chose Uncle Willie as my modern celeb, and the idea is based on an old moblog comment I made. Enjoy. Clicking on the image brings up a larger copy hosted on the Band Website.

[image no longer available]

Posted by Eric @ 6:17am, 04-12-04

Mad Gone Mad... Gone Weird...

  Went out with Cari and Mat tonight to see Fred, Andy, Ian and Eric K. (collectively known as Mad Gone Mad) rock out at Time Square in Glen Richie tonight. And whoah, Nelly, did it turn out to be one heck of an intriguing evening.

  Cool thing number one: Ran into Beth for the first time in 10 years! Always good to see Beth. Sometimes, I've thought about how her and Chris are doing, whether or not they're still Internet junkies (they are), random stuff.

  And then, I asked Beth if Chris ever mentioned loaning me the use of his weight room in their former apartment for, um, well, you know, things. Lo and behold, the very girl from that story was at the bar, and we started talking.

  Alot.

  Nine years since that time back at Chris and Beth's old apartment. Nine years since I'd spoken to her. Sounds familiar, doesn't it. Why does this stuff happen to me? Anyway, I ended up walking away with her number, a good general sense of when to call, and some plans for Karaoke at the Avenue.

  Could someone possibly tell me if the rollercoaster is going up or down at the moment? Anyone?

Posted by Eric @ 5:00am, 04-11-04

A Thousand Points Of Delicious Light

  The words of Dr. Quinton Q. Quinn. [click here] to get in the know...

  As is evident, I've had a recent run of good times. During that run, I've conceived an idea that just might work, or at least it just might turn a few heads. But first, I have to find time to finish DBZ:UR. It's taken me over five years to get around to writing it, and I owe it to my readers to end it as promised.

  It's called Messiah. And coming from me, you know it'll be most interesting, I'm sure...

  Let's see if I can try my hand at this writing thing on a more original avenue. What the hell, I have the time most days, and the idea has been forming, especially over the last week. I'll let you know what comes of it on this very page in the coming days...

Posted by Eric @ 4:15pm, 04-08-04

And Then We'll Take It Higher

  Now, the real fun begins at Electric Avenue...

  The goal: Bring the total Electric Avenue compound, including the bar, club, banquet area, pool, and surrounding Powell family properties, into the 21st century. How? By networking the building for different multimedia tasks such as in-house radio selectable by genre, messaging between areas of the bar, video chat and more.

  The basic goal right now is to expand on the network already existing in Justin's home. So far, we have his two office towers, his laptop, and his son's computer all sitting happily on the network, and all receiving broadband internet access. The plan is to add two machines to this network down in the business itself: in the DJ booth on stage, and in the bar area.

  Once these two computers are in place, they'll be able to access the music stored on the upstairs machine, as well as be online for ordering supplies. They'll be tied into the respective audio systems for each area as well. In the club area, it'll be the main speakers, meaning it gets its own spot on the board. The bar machine will have an independant four speaker stereo that surrounds the bar itself. Both areas can independantly access different (or the same) collections of music via pre-made playlists.

  After these two machines are running, more can be added. One in the kitchen/waitress area, one in the banquet area, one in the pool area (no kidding!), and in the distant future, access in each of the motel rooms. Expand that to the private properties, such as his parents' house, Dan and Sue's, Torry and Tommy's... You know what? This entry would get entirely too long if I described the ideas I have rolling through my head right now. We're talking high-tech dining, lodging, and so much more.

  Electric Avenue can, and will, become an entertainment Mecca in Central PA. And it can, and will, lead the way in using technology to better serve it's patrons...

Posted by Eric @ 6:20am, 04-07-04

\m/

  If you can tell me what that is, then you have earned yourself a hearty handshake and a pat on the back.

  Things are just so kickass right now. Two jobs, both fun as all hell, both paying decently. A social life that seems to work out OK in the end. A healthy internet presence (like I haven't had that for the last eight years). In the end, life is good right now. Very good. Almost too good. Almost.

  Bet you can't guess what's missing...

  On to the happy. Might be getting a media house going, which rocks the house. Finally, work in my field. It's so nice to be able to use the skills I paid to learn. Hopefully now, they'll pay me back and then some. Nothing's set in stone, but things look more than great...

  Right now, though things are going quite well, the only thing I need is sleep. Good night. Er, good morning, I guess. Damn my odd hours...

Posted by Eric @ 6:45am, 04-05-04

Anti-Terrorism 101

  It's not hard. Osama bin Laden is a man on borrowed time, one way or the other. We're talking about a guy with crappy kidneys, and has a need for a dialysis machine. He has to lug that bad boy wherever he goes and get hooked up to it every once in a while.

  Now correct me if I'm wrong, but that involves quite a bit of sophisticated electronics, right? Right. So here's how we do this the non-violent way. In the end, the only one who could possibly die is Osama himself. We pull all troops and equipment a certain distance from the ranges where he is believed to be hiding. Make sure emergency crews are ready to haul ass and cover any villages in the area post-attack.

  Send in bombers. Equip them with a large spread of small electromagnectic pulse generators. Rig these bad boys to let off strong EMPs every so often, and randomize each one so they cover quite the range of times. Drop these things in the mountains in mass quantities, and set them off. More than likely, one or more of them will knock out al-Quaeda's equipment, including Towel-Head Harry's blood laundry.

  Now bright boy's got a problem, doesn't he. What does he do? Die in the mountains of tainted blood, unable to pee like a normal human? Or does he come out and surrender in order to prolong his own life? Either way, he's screwed. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing...

Posted by Eric @ 4:33am, 04-04-04

Don't Believe The Hype...

  Last night, I saw it. It was actually really well done as a film. But guess what? No real life changes. Surprised? Neither am I. But now I feel a little better about dealing with the Fundies for the next two weeks. And with Weezy working volunteer, I have a friend I can gab with all night long. Weez is a good kid...

  It rhymes with "chill," and gives me the chills... E-Mail your guess to me!

  Pranked both Justin AND Kim really good yesterday. Noone pranked me. I'd say that's a positive year, wouldn't you?

  Got an [at hope's end] CD from Ken. Good stuff, check them out! Gotta change my music page when I have more time...

Posted by Eric @ 4:33pm, 04-02-04