tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158366166570653992011-08-02T22:13:00.925-04:00Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.comBlogger961100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-36201294181268988452011-07-03T20:17:00.002-04:002011-07-03T20:19:51.315-04:00

I've now had my new phone for three working weeks and have had some time to get used to it, so not that anyone asked, but here are some more thoughts on it a few weeks in. In general, I'm happy with the phone. As a phone, it seems perfectly fine; call quality is good, and though I haven't given the battery and endurance test for time, It seems like you could talk for hours without any problem. So

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-53581501997592716022011-06-14T12:04:00.003-04:002011-06-14T12:15:02.839-04:00

If you're close to me you probably know that my old phone, an LG Voyager, has been on its last legs for a while. The microphone was broken, making it useless as an actual phone unless I used bluetooth, the battery life was rapidly diminishing and recently it would take several hits to the activate button to wake it up from sleeping. I'd been searching for a new phone for a while but hadn't

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-85168991360582363932011-01-17T10:45:00.000-05:002011-01-17T10:45:55.113-05:00

As you no doubt have noticed by now, this blog has been on hiatus since last August.  That's going to continue for a little while longer.  I should be back with a new style for spring.

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-40571215931485273862010-08-15T10:47:00.001-04:002010-08-15T10:47:52.026-04:00

I'm sitting on a rock at the bottom of Quechee Gorge in Vermont. I hear the rush of the rapids. I smell water and pine and earth. My soul is refreshed. My life bar is refilled.

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-13220751867049251932010-08-07T08:50:00.000-04:002010-08-07T08:50:06.964-04:00

The first time I heard of Broken Bells was when I saw a blog post about a cool new video starring Christina Hendricks of Mad Men (and to a lesser extent, Firefly) fame.  I enjoyed the video, thought the song was decent, and then  promptly forgot all about it.  I'd never heard the band name before and didn't know anything about them, so... out of sight, out of mind.  Christine even asked me at

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-65843920426208184162010-07-27T14:40:00.000-04:002010-07-27T14:40:33.849-04:00

Sometime last year, and quite by accident, I came across a show on the Smithsonian Channel (HD) called Sky View. As the title indicates, the show was filmed entirely from the air, and each episode focused on some aspect of Europe, usually in Britain or Ireland. For example, one episode was "The Tudor Age" which featured castles, estates and forts from the reign of Henry VII through his

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-63404271492309631812010-07-24T06:39:00.000-04:002010-07-24T06:39:55.487-04:00

Last Thursday we saw Heartless Bastards at Bowery Ballroom in New York.  I like the Bowery because it's a nice small intimate atmosphere, but still is kind of classy.  That's good because due to some unusual circumstances, we were dressed nicer than we normally would be for a concert.  It was almost like we were on a date.  Imagine that! The first opener was Peter Wolf Crier, but we missed most

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-5121582675973105112010-07-19T23:57:00.002-04:002010-07-22T21:34:06.516-04:00

We just got back from seeing Christoper (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) Nolan's new epic Inception.  I don't think I've ever seen a film like this.  Then again, I'm not sure exactly what I saw.  My mind was spinning walking out of the theater and it seemed the more I examined it the more tangled it got.  It was an incredible experience, the best I've had in a theater in a long, long

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-90516528704833676722010-07-18T20:57:00.000-04:002010-07-18T20:57:40.927-04:00

Last month we bought a TiVo. I've never had one before, I resisted the craze when it first came out and then just went with the FiOS DVR when we got HD television a couple of years ago. I wouldn't have even considered a TiVo except for two things: We'd started bumping up against the space limit (~ 20 hours HD) of the FiOS DVR, and I could find no information on improved forthcoming DVRs from

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-24804337239200959882010-07-10T13:20:00.004-04:002010-08-05T19:23:37.472-04:00

When the Sci-Fi Channel re-branded themselves "SyFy" last summer, they relaunched with a new series called Warehouse 13. Remember the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the ark of the covenant is packed away in a crate and stored in a giant warehouse filled with other, presumably just as dangerous, wonders? Essentially, that's Warehouse 13. The warehouse stores things too dangerous to be

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-40845733939859504612010-06-26T12:40:00.002-04:002010-06-28T14:55:40.238-04:00

Silversun Pickups came to Wellmont Theater in Montclair Thursday. We met a friend for dinner beforehand and then went in. We were only there in time to catch a part of the first opener, The Henry Clay People, who didn't leave an impression.The second opener was Against Me!, with whom I was vaguely familiar. They're evocative of late 70's punk. I say evocative because I've never really listened

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-26960008067779698942010-06-20T20:00:00.002-04:002010-06-20T20:04:12.176-04:00

Last night Christine and I saw The New Pornographers at Terminal 5 in New York. T5 is one of my favorite venues for concerts, mainly because it's really easy to get to from the Jersey side. Beyond that, there's plenty of great vantage points to see the stage. There's also a rooftop bar, although I wasn't drinking.This was the first time I'd seen The NP's with the full lineup. I'd seen them once

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-11661545155825935242010-06-14T19:40:00.001-04:002010-06-14T19:45:22.417-04:00

Castle recently completed its second season on ABC. I started watching toward the end, I'd heard only a few things about it, and the premise to me seemed like a modern, New York-based rehash of Murder, She Wrote. But I was familiar with star Nathan Fillion from his various appearances in the Whedonverse (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), and I think he's pretty

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-47083996119296826582010-06-06T19:50:00.000-04:002010-06-06T19:55:10.564-04:00

I have been, and always shall be, a nerd.Nerd humor, anyone? In all, well, some, seriousness, I've generally always had nerd- or geek-like tastes. I like science fiction, fantasy, gadgets, computers, etc etc. I had sort of forgotten that for a time; my wife is definitely not a nerd, and so I tend to temper my enthusiasm for such things for her sake. For example, I'm beyond excited for Tron:

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-46320965958260178342010-06-01T09:20:00.001-04:002010-06-01T09:20:41.561-04:00

I recently finished reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. It took me longer than it really should have because I didn't have many solid blocks of time to just sit and read, but I did eventually get all the way through, and I loved it. I think it's an absolutely fantastic book, and I was so excited when I finished it that I immediately began to write a post about it.Remember a couple of posts ago when

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-81205531637633841072010-05-31T13:05:00.000-04:002010-05-31T13:07:26.102-04:00

Songwriting fascinates me. It's not the lyrics so much, some people are just poets or wordsmiths. I don't think I could write lyrics, but being a lyricist is something I can understand. Writing music on the other hand pretty much blows my mind. I have a hard time getting my head around being able to write music pieces for several instruments and make them all work together. Coming up with a

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-87761627694102144252010-05-25T07:13:00.017-04:002010-05-26T09:07:27.326-04:00

As I wrote last time, I've been having trouble writing lately. I've got three unfinished posts waiting to be published that I can't get through, and I think there were at least two other topics I wanted to write about that I never even started and have now forgotten. As I'm not a professional writer, it's not so much a problem as an irritation, but I really want to get this blog flowing on a

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-33093115716245399012010-05-21T21:20:00.000-04:002010-05-21T21:23:40.391-04:00

So I spend a good bit of ink in my last post lamenting how infrequent my posts have gotten, and then I turn around and don't write another for over two weeks. Brilliant. However, I have an excuse this time: computer issues. I was going to write about them, but I decided that one, it's boring and two, nobody cares. All that really matters is my old computer was dying and now I have a new

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-33063952903960032722010-04-20T21:35:00.025-04:002010-04-29T21:00:34.113-04:00

I've now been writing this blog for over a year, my first post was in April of 2009. When I started I really didn't know exactly what I was going to write about, or whether I would keep writing it at all. Over the past year I think I've come to understand the appeal of blogs a bit, but also some of the pitfalls of them.There are problems that go with having a blog; there's a responsibility to

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-91563197763536150282010-04-13T21:30:00.002-04:002010-04-13T21:34:11.646-04:00

Last Thursday we went into New York to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC for short) at Webster Hall. BRMC is one of our favorite bands, though you may not have heard of them. I first came across them around eight years ago on an internet radio station. I heard this incredible fuzzbox rock song called "Spread Your Love," which can now be heard in Ketel One Vodka commercials (works for me -

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-54346441353390577462010-03-24T21:50:00.004-04:002010-03-24T21:57:15.019-04:00

Today is March 24th, and I just realized my last post was on the 2nd. That's far too long of a break between posts, but I simply didn't have much opportunity to write this month. Here's a few quick notes on what's been going on this month.The streak is over; we didn't see any concerts in the month of February. Between May of last year and this January, Christine and I saw at least one concert

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-44218386599673048362010-03-02T19:00:00.003-05:002010-03-02T19:03:57.385-05:00

That's the Olympic Motto. It translates into English as Swifter, Higher, Stronger.The company I work for moved our office last week. Office moves are a lot of work, and this one was done on a very short time frame. The entire move was put together in about three months. I was designated as my department's move coordinator, and since I'm in the IT department I was heavily involved anyway.So as

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-51060898075383110592010-02-26T14:30:00.001-05:002010-02-26T14:30:00.726-05:00

I don't usually watch much television. Other than sports, which is mostly during football season, I only watch a few shows here and there and movies. There aren't any actual series I watch regularly anymore. That's partially because there isn't much on TV that appeals to me, and partially because I have other things I'd prefer to do with my time.Right now though is a major exception. It feels

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-69595499427529083922010-02-15T08:40:00.002-05:002010-02-15T08:46:16.947-05:00

Right, the reason the Superbowl commercials were weak was because of the Olympics. The commercials during the opening ceremonies were already superior to those from last Sunday. I guess it makes sense - getting ad time during a once-every-four-years event probably seemed like a better option than a football game that's played every year. It was a bad bet though; Superbowl XLIV ended up being

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-40603333828953811922010-02-10T22:55:00.003-05:002010-02-10T22:58:59.726-05:00

It looks like the snow has finished falling here in North Jersey. We got just under a foot of snow. It's a lot, but it's hardly frozen doom. It snowed pretty hard all day though and visibility was bad, so it's a good thing my office was closed. I've got the driveway cleared so there won't be any problem getting to work tomorrow. That is, there won't be a problem unless more snow arrives

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-59635694118331731082010-02-07T12:30:00.000-05:002010-02-07T12:44:13.366-05:00

As I've mentioned more than once, I've been working on learning to play guitar for some time now. I took lessons for a while last year but scheduling became problematic so I stopped that and have been working on my own using a book since. I practice as much as I can, every night when it's possible, and have gotten better, although I'm not yet at the point where I feel I can say I actually

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-47634428697235882052010-01-30T09:15:00.001-05:002010-01-30T09:22:46.544-05:00

On Friday January 22nd we saw My Brightest Diamond at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. I apologize for the lack of pictures, it was a "no photography allowed" show. Not that that stopped other people, but we followed the rules.MBD is the brainchild/artistic front of Shara Worden, who performed the role of the Forest Queen on The Decemberists' masterpiece The Hazards of Love (and the ensuing

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-54558991845909141432010-01-19T20:30:00.002-05:002010-01-19T20:49:28.381-05:00

Generally speaking I like to keep my posts about something recent, like going to a concert or a trip or my recent four-part series about my aquariums. But this is a slow time of year and sometimes you've got to do a little housekeeping.Last Friday The Basement Generals played at the Donegal Saloon in Kearny. They sounded great, the best we've heard them yet. The finished the set with a new

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-67495862421324516922010-01-10T08:30:00.001-05:002010-01-10T08:43:23.023-05:00

Part one | Part two | Part threeAnd now the exciting conclusion...So I was at the point where the large aquarium tank was set up downstairs, filled, and the fish were back in. All that remained was to fix the light. As you will recall from part one, the bulb died months ago and because of the cost I had been reluctant to replace it. Having gone through all this bother though I was obviously

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-13485904813984560622010-01-07T20:00:00.003-05:002010-01-07T20:12:26.848-05:00

Begin with part one.Continue to part two.Having devised a plan to move the large aquarium downstairs and rearranged the home theater to make it fit, I began the process of swapping out the tanks. This would be pretty boring to describe, so I'm going to tell this part of the story mostly with pictures.The first thing I did was move all the fish from the small tank to a bucket. If you've never

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-453154972749573582010-01-03T11:00:00.004-05:002010-01-03T11:37:49.216-05:00

Continued from part one.In anticipation of this plan, I had already moved all but one fish from the large tank into the small one. The only remaining fish was a chinese algae-eater who was really a little too big for the downstairs tank, but that's where he had to go anyway, so I went to get something to put him in for the transfer. When it was time to start pulling the tank apart so I could

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-87725202080920854562009-12-30T09:52:00.002-05:002009-12-30T09:56:02.828-05:00

(I apologize in advance for errors in spelling and grammar in this post. For the sake of getting this post up in a timely manner, I won't be able to do my normal amount of editing and revising. New Year's Resolution #3-A: keep a better posting schedule and process.)Last night Christine and I, along with our friend Jennie, closed down the concert schedule for the year, seeing Gogol Bordello at

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-90336276556932258692009-12-27T12:57:00.011-05:002009-12-28T08:19:01.329-05:00

I've kept fish almost as long as I've lived on my own, that is since I moved out of my parents' house years ago. Since we moved to this house, I've had two aquariums running; the main tank is a 26-gallon bowfront in our living room, and the second tank is a 10-gallon in our basement by the television with only some small fish in it.Recently however I've been thinking of taking down the main

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-38681417715999344252009-12-20T20:55:00.006-05:002010-01-03T20:55:01.407-05:00

Saturday night Rutgers finished their football season by winning the St. Petersburg Bowl (presented by Beef O'Brady's) over the University of Central Florida Knights, 45-24. Rutgers mostly dominated this game, except for a couple of big plays by UCF it was all Scarlet Knights. While this is a minor bowl, on a terrible date, it's nice for RU to go out on a win, especially in such convincing

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-69079040514953417442009-12-13T18:23:00.012-05:002009-12-14T19:51:50.293-05:00

Friday night we finally got to see The Gaslight Anthem live. You may recall that we had missed them twice before this; they were canceled at All Points West when Sunday's opening was delayed two hours by weather, and we had tickets to see them in October at Terminal 5 but lamed out because I was sick and it was snowing. I like going to Wellmont Theater anyway, it's smaller so you're closer to

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-68434038218578203922009-12-01T12:55:00.014-05:002009-12-01T22:51:18.769-05:00

Last Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving, we were in Asbury Park to see Nicole Atkins at the Stone Pony. This was the third time we'd seen her this year, but the first in which she was the headliner. (We saw her at the Pony in May with Mike Doughty and opening for Aimee Mann in Morristown in July). Let me tell you, this was one hell of a show.We got there in time to see some of the

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-25062290241476627742009-11-25T19:00:00.003-05:002009-11-26T09:41:39.361-05:00

Last Saturday Rutgers played at Syracuse (by the way, by now you know when I say, "Rutgers" I mean the football team, right?). A number of people from our tailgating group had talked about going as Syracuse, New York isn't very far away. In the end, only my friend Andrew and I made the trip. It's about three-and-a-half hours on the road from my house, and it's a very easy drive. You take

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-49561534704674278982009-11-15T19:15:00.000-05:002009-11-15T19:29:37.261-05:00

Part the First:As I've mentioned before, my buddy Rob is in a band called Basement Generals. We try to get to his shows when we can. Recently the band played a show at Hansil's Bar & Grill in Oakland, and when they announced it my initial reaction was, "No way!"Hansil's you see was "my bar" for a time way back. My best friend and I were there every weekend after shooting some pool. I spent

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-30416364334862458852009-11-07T11:15:00.000-05:002009-11-07T11:14:26.467-05:00

Last weekend I made my third trip down to Maryland in the last two months. (It rained again.) This time I went to see my brother Pete's band, Bozo Diablo, play a show at the Flight Deck Lounge at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, where Pete works. BD is a cover band playing classic and hard rock, and some hair band music sprinkled in. (I suppose they consider that the 'hard rock.')The show

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-29059276851003675762009-10-20T20:53:00.007-04:002009-10-20T21:25:17.874-04:00

I'm sitting at home, just relaxing right now. I have nothing to do this week — I mean, no appointments, no concerts, no games, nowhere I have to be, and it feels really good. Don't get me wrong, if I didn't enjoy all the stuff we do I wouldn't do it. But there are times I over-schedule myself and then things get hairy and exhausting. So right now it's good to look forward to this week, and

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-44313777395334949392009-10-09T12:06:00.006-04:002009-10-09T12:35:47.738-04:00

We went to see The Bravery at Terminal 5 last night. It was a disappointing show, for the sole reason that the lead singer is dealing with a case of H1N1, or as you may know it, Swine Flu. He fessed up to being sick after about 4 songs, because his voice was really ragged. There were parts of some songs he just couldn't sing.The rest of the band was fine, and it seemed like it might be a

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-83921705959447951942009-10-05T20:39:00.005-04:002009-10-05T20:59:22.885-04:00

Okay, they're not exactly picture-perfect. But they are edible, which is more than I can say for the tomatoes. I pulled up the plants from the garden this weekend and when I pulled the carrots out, lo and behold there was actually some vegetable on most of them. Obviously most of them are tiny. They'll make good Ziggy treats. The fatter ones though I peeled and chopped, and they're fine to

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-37619861290632781662009-09-30T12:47:00.013-04:002009-10-04T20:21:03.691-04:00

"We got home around 2 AM. Our eventful week wasn't over, either, but that's another story, for another post."If you've been keeping track, you know that we went to see the Decemberists in Montclair on a Monday, Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Radio City Music Hall Wednesday, and U2 at Giants Stadium Thursday. You'd think that after that we'd just want to stay home and relax over the weekend. But that's

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-54303723751252874632009-09-25T12:52:00.015-04:002009-09-30T07:13:28.852-04:00

As I write this, it's Friday, September 25th, 2009, and I'm on my lunch hour. I don't know exactly when this post will make it to the blog. I'm still a little groggy from three concerts in four nights. (I know, wah, poor me.) I actually feel kind of proud of myself for pulling that off, not wearing down, and making it in to work every morning despite the increasingly later nights.I already

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-19224712851240913382009-09-22T08:10:00.023-04:002009-09-22T19:06:17.415-04:00

Rutgers' football team won Saturday, beating Florida International University 23-15. I'm glad for the win, but they really didn't look very good doing it. The season isn't looking promising.Last time I mentioned pulling the plants out of my garden "when I have time." It won't be this week, because this is going to be one of the busiest weeks in my memory, but all in a good way. We're going to

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-23075234721328136822009-09-17T20:45:00.010-04:002009-09-21T12:20:28.525-04:00

A little bit of backstory for you — in the spring of 2008, our first spring in this house, I built myself a garden. Gardening was something I always wanted to do but before we bought this house we rented and were never in a position to do it. Now let me explain what I mean by 'built.' We have a lot of wildlife here who must be kept out of the garden. So, it's a 12'x12' inside square, framed

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-22333810310701066172009-09-14T17:50:00.016-04:002009-09-15T22:49:31.474-04:00

It's been over two weeks since I've posted anything, which is bad. I suppose this is the point where I'm supposed to say, "I haven't had anything to post," but I have. I just haven't had a chance to write a post. At least in the short term I've had an excuse - I got sick last week and spent most of the last four days lying on my couch. (no H1N1, just a cold.)What I plan to do, then, is to

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-24124773015563345682009-08-27T20:22:00.007-04:002009-08-27T21:01:48.821-04:00

I got a new guitar! (ha, you thought it was something negative, didn't you?) I ordered it last Friday and it arrived today. You might be wonder why I bought another guitar, since I already have three. (You knew that already, right?) Well, I have two electrics that are pretty much the same thing, and I wanted an acoustic to play. I have a Yamaha classical guitar, the problem with that is a

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-42005374084334540162009-08-23T10:39:00.006-04:002009-08-23T11:24:36.361-04:00

Yesterday Christine and I took a drive south. We stopped briefly in New Brunswick to see how the expansion of Rutgers Stadium looks, and did a little shopping at Scarlet Fever, a store that sells Rutgers gear. With two weeks until the first game of the year, it sure doesn't look to me like the stadium will be ready. I've seen pictures of the inside of the stadium and I know the seating is

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-50797920558169675592009-08-15T09:12:00.028-04:002009-08-15T12:00:23.743-04:00

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009, Jersey City, New JerseyI was awakened early Sunday morning by the sound of rain on the roof. Normally, I love this sound. I'll lie in bed and listen and smile and relax. That morning, my immediate thought was, "Uh-oh."The forecast has called for storms during the day, not steady rain, but by the time we got up, it was pouring and initially we questioned our sanity

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-12347457196663633132009-08-09T20:18:00.034-04:002009-08-11T14:14:47.135-04:00

Saturday, August 1st, 2009, Jersey City, New JerseyOn Saturday Christine came with me to the festival. I slept a little later than I wanted, but I guess that comes of getting home at close to 2AM. As a consequence, we missed the first act, Black Gold. I don't know anything about them, so it was no big deal. I was agitated because I thought we were going to miss ...And You Will Know Us By the

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-49677474701241680712009-08-05T21:29:00.025-04:002009-08-06T21:09:50.861-04:00

Friday, July 31, 2009. Jersey City, New Jersey.For the second straight year I journeyed to Liberty State Park for the All Points West Music & Arts Festival - a three-day concert extravaganza featuring 65 bands, mostly of the indie-rock variety. In 2008 I was there only for Friday and Saturday (as Sunday featured a decidedly different tone of music), but this year I was set for all three days.If

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-76519763294214299482009-08-02T16:57:00.001-04:002009-08-02T16:57:08.800-04:00

We're finally in to the park for APW, but rumor going around is that Steel Train and Gaslight Anthem have been cut from the lineup due to the delay. We're ticked. Steel Train was just someone I wanted to check out, but we really wanted to see Gaslight. This sucks.

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-24087956567677085072009-08-02T14:46:00.001-04:002009-08-02T14:46:40.705-04:00

Well, we're here and so are a lot of others, but they're not letting anyone in. We heard on the radio that the delay was to allow the lightning threat to pass. There's no ETA on when it will open, but they are still saying the show will go on. Eventually.

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-61831128554432958562009-08-02T11:54:00.002-04:002009-08-02T11:57:04.764-04:00

I doubt I'll be able to post from the festival today, simply because it's going to be raining all day and I'm not going to want to take my phone out. We head back to Liberty State Park for the last of 3 days of music and mud. Our itinerary today includes Steel Train, Gaslight Anthem, Silversun Pickups, Mogwai, Echo & the Bunnymen, Coldplay and MGMT, plus whoever else we can fit in.Full recaps

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-87457860745151157152009-08-01T21:08:00.000-04:002009-08-01T21:09:00.724-04:00

...call it music.(sorry about that)

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-2495402590639838752009-08-01T21:07:00.001-04:002009-08-01T21:07:59.540-04:00

Artic Monkeys were disjointed and boring, a big disappointment. Gogol Bordello was amazing and delivered the second standout perfomance of the weekend. Neko Case was solid. My Bloody Valentine is actually too loud, itls hard to distinguish the sounds that I'm hearing. I don't know if it's the sound mix or what, but it's like they're trying to punish the audience with sound. It's hard to call

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-13145523873844238322009-08-01T15:26:00.001-04:002009-08-01T15:26:43.374-04:00

The sun is shining and I'm back at Liberty State Park for day two of APW, and today Christine is here too. We were running late today and didn't get here until 2. But they were running late here too and we made it just in time for ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. They are REALLY LOUD. I'm already a fan, and they were really good. "Would You Smile Again" was particularly awesome

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-44841943386940846402009-07-31T21:27:00.001-04:002009-07-31T21:27:28.370-04:00

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were outstanding! Standout performance of the festival so far. I really need to start paying more attention to them. Karen O. gave a shout-out to MCA and the Beastie Boys, which was nice.Since I don't care about Jay-Z, I'm just waiting for Mstrkrft at this point, and I have over an hour to kill. But there's a decent dj playing in the tent, which is the only dry place here, so

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-13790618326657146092009-07-31T18:09:00.001-04:002009-07-31T18:09:30.119-04:00

Yes, it's pouring but was prepared for that. I brought my rain jacket and my new backpack even has a rain cover. Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring rain pants so I'm soaked from the waste down. My waterproof hiking shoes have also given up; they've been submerged too many times. Swamps of Jersey, indeed. At the moment though I'm nice and dry in a tent.The second great show of the day was

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-82618911893196145932009-07-31T14:56:00.001-04:002009-07-31T14:56:23.379-04:00

It's 2:45 on Friday and I have a minute, so here's the festival so far.The grounds are really swampy. We had some bad storms in Jersey this week and the park hasn't had a chance to dry out. More rain is expected later. It's hot and somewhat sunny, and humid of course, but the constant breeze makes it bearable.Heartless Bastards were the first act up. My friend Nick saw them open for Gaslight

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-84543591119593698722009-07-31T10:19:00.001-04:002009-07-31T10:19:17.533-04:00

I'm on the train to Hoboken, where I'll catch the light rail to Liberty State Park for APW. Unfortunately, it looks like the weather isn't going to be very cooperative. Last year it was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and warm but not too hot, and no humidity. Today in NJ it's overcast and muggy, and the forecast calls for rain later. I'm sure it will be a great time anyway.Looking at the map of

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-26471658161643447062009-07-29T22:25:00.001-04:002009-07-29T22:25:09.581-04:00

I'm now set up with mobile e-mail on my phone, so I should be able to blog on the go. If it works right, I'll be able to update from All Points West this weekend. I should have enough downtime in-between acts, especially on Friday. Watch this space!

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-71973064780391209782009-07-26T20:51:00.009-04:002009-07-27T10:45:45.663-04:00

Now that we've returned to weather approaching summer normal, and aided by some organic plant food, the plants in my garden have finally started to take off. At least I'll have an entry for the family tomato party in three weeks. Here are some pictures.The tomato plants have gotten both taller and thicker, and are finally flowering. The grape tomatoes are still doing fine, of course. In fact,

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-68385938955882873392009-07-24T22:35:00.009-04:002009-07-25T09:58:29.484-04:00

I know what you're thinking... Morristown? Yep. Ms. Atkins played Thursday at the Community Theater (at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts). What a pretentious name for this tiny little joint on South Street. Well okay, it's only looks tiny from the street and it's pretty nice inside, having been renovated not long ago. Still, this is a place where local companies put on "A Christmas Carol,

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-25606830585609574812009-07-15T18:23:00.017-04:002009-07-25T09:49:32.273-04:00

When I first started this blog, I thought movie and music reviews would frequently feature on it. The music has made it, but until this week I hadn't seen any movies in theaters this year, so I had nothing to review.Christine and I are fans of the Harry Potter books and movies and had been looking forward to this latest installment for some time. I'm going to keep this review spoiler-free

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-63703005263514017312009-07-11T09:10:00.004-04:002009-07-11T09:26:07.734-04:00

Its July eleventh, and it still seems like true Jersey summer hasn't hit yet. It's finally sunny since we got out of June, but the temperatures have struggled to make it out of the seventies and it hasn't been humid at all. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Generally speaking, I don't like when the weather gets really hot, and I really can't stand high humidity. Plus we've only had to use

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-44374580534152013592009-07-04T09:33:00.035-04:002009-07-04T11:11:30.692-04:00

4th of July weekend. What's more American that a do-it-yourself project in the yard? My primary goal this weekend was to build a sort of "landing area" at the bottom of the ladder to our pool deck, using paving stones and wood. The area had been grass, but years of chlorinated water dripping on it had pretty much killed it, and so now it was just weedy dirt, It's hard to mow and looks awful:

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-51334272048199765482009-06-30T21:27:00.009-04:002009-06-30T21:47:49.838-04:00

Last weekend when I was doing some yardwork I came across this insect. I believe it's some kind of beetle, but I've never seen anything like it before. It was about 2 inches long I'd guess, and a deep, blood red color. Wicked-looking set of pincers on it. It seemed practically dead; it was lying on its back when I spotted it, I picked it up with a shovel and put it on this log. Once it was on

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-56950426296904236252009-06-26T09:42:00.005-04:002009-06-26T11:03:36.836-04:00

...especially when it's a friend.Last night Christine and I went to Asbury Park to see a "Battle of the Bands" competition at The Saint. We were there to support Basement Generals, a new band our friend Rob started. This was their first gig. I'd never been to anything like this before, but it was pretty cool. Unfortunately the band went on at 9 and there wasn't much of a crowd yet. I thought

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-68090192294571061722009-06-21T07:45:00.012-04:002009-06-21T20:58:24.321-04:00

The star that burns twice as bright burns half as long.Last Wednesday we saw Metric at Terminal 5 in New York City. I like Terminal 5, it's a good venue and easy to get to. Metric vs. The Decemberists isn't a good comparison, it's really apples and oranges or worse, but having seen the two of them in concert only a week apart, it's really impossible to not do it.Unlike The Decemberists, Metric

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-54469851375808367702009-06-16T21:16:00.007-04:002009-06-16T21:45:57.440-04:00

Well, with the vacation recap done, let's move on to more current events, shall we? Despite the weather, I have been able to get some work done in my garden. I was able to find the rest of the plants I wanted at a nearby Agway, so I added a serrano chile plant, two types of lettuce and four broccolis. I've never grown lettuce, broccoli or carrots (planted from seed) before, so we'll see how

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-89575930219393482962009-06-14T09:34:00.030-04:002010-07-26T20:54:34.232-04:00

It's now been over a month since we returned from California, so it's beyond time to wrap this up. I'm going to compress the last two days into one post, which works because there was a lot of traveling involved which you really don't need to read about. On Sunday after breakfast our first task was to learn public transit. All the walking the night before made that clear. With a little help

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-19524351113779916702009-06-11T18:17:00.012-04:002009-06-11T21:06:45.071-04:00

Last night we saw The Decemberists at Radio City Music Hall and it was the greatest concert I've ever seen. I thought at first that Radio City was a weird place to have a rock concert, but I was totally wrong. The acoustics there make it perfect, and the stage setting suits the theatrical nature of the band.The concert was divided into two parts; part one was their current album, The Hazards

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-11649713262428017692009-06-10T21:46:00.001-04:002009-06-10T21:46:43.656-04:00

Holy Carp! The Decemberists just finished The Hazards of Love at Radio City. It was AMAZING! I've never seen anything like that in my life!

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-54951043655705460522009-06-10T20:42:00.001-04:002009-06-10T20:42:01.627-04:00

I'm at Radio City Music Hall with Christine and Jennie to see The Decemberists. We just got to our seats and

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-65407515249884049842009-06-08T21:42:00.005-04:002009-06-08T23:03:09.485-04:00

Here I am, sitting and relaxing after all the day's activities are done, catching up on some blog reading. About half an hour into it I realized I could have been ripping music while I was reading. I'm up to G. So now I'm ripping while I update.Speaking of G, Christine gave me Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown for my birthday, which recently passed. She also got me Middle Cyclone by Neko

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-44960039495900492492009-06-06T07:22:00.012-04:002009-06-06T08:46:24.893-04:00

Most of what we had planned to do on Saturday was outside of San Francisco. However Christine had read about a farmer's market at Ferry Plaza on Saturdays, and we wanted to check it out. Our hotel was only a block and a half from the plaza (at the San Francisco Ferry Building), and the continental breakfast at the hotel was really disappointing, so we just walked over.The market is really

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-11406522259430147642009-05-31T21:08:00.014-04:002009-05-31T23:09:06.621-04:00

We once again take a brief (and I do mean brief, I'm writing this during the intermissions of game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals) step away from vacation recaps so I can talk about my garden. I built my garden last year. It cost a lot of money (more than I intended) and a lot of work and sweat (which I did intend). The end results were positive though, and I've been slowly getting it back into

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-30003110782385406452009-05-29T20:24:00.027-04:002009-05-29T23:24:26.229-04:00

If you read my recap(s) of day two, you're probably thinking, "there's no way they could possibly top that." You're correct. What's more, we really knew it. A day with no flaws is a rare thing. Day three was to be our last in Monterey, in the afternoon we were driving to San Francisco. Yet the day also held something I really was looking forward to: the Monterey Bay Aquarium.I love aquariums

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-1704863382949539882009-05-25T08:14:00.021-04:002009-05-25T20:32:35.688-04:00

Here's what I knew about Pebble Beach before this trip: it's very expensive and the golf there is awesome. That's pretty much it. I read in a travel book that the town is "so exclusive that they make you pay to drive around the streets and admire the place." Had I read further I might have gotten an explanation of what that meant. I was picturing a gated community that makes you pay to drive

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-18701113493676524622009-05-23T10:39:00.003-04:002009-05-23T11:03:37.050-04:00

We will now take a brief detour from the vacation recap. It will be continued later this weekend. Last night Christine and I went down to Asbury Park to the famous Stone Pony to see Nicole Atkins and Mike Doughty. The Pony is a New Jersey institution, and yet we'd never been there. We both heard about the show on WRXP, and since the tickets were (relatively) inexpensive, we decided Thursday

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-89860490592841844402009-05-22T22:28:00.002-04:002009-05-23T10:32:47.821-04:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled vacation recap to bring you this concert update: Nicole Atkins just finished her set at the Stone Pony. It rocked.

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-82610779132856388212009-05-17T10:27:00.046-04:002009-05-20T18:59:27.470-04:00

We had a simple plan.We would drive down Route 1 to Big Sur in the morning, and later in the afternoon visit Carmel and Pebble Beach (if there was time). That doesn't sound like much, and although we were excited, I don't think we fully understood or appreciated how much we would experience with that limited itinerary.So, we rose on time and hit the breakfast at the hotel, where we got to

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-56292558035275983182009-05-13T18:36:00.026-04:002009-05-19T13:01:16.491-04:00

We flew out of JFK early in the morning on Wednesday the 6th of May. I'm always excited to fly somewhere. I love to look out the window at the world far below and see what landmarks I recognize. It's even better since the introduction of seat-back video screens and "live flight" maps. Our path took us over the Midwest, south of Chicago, across Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and into

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-30521697236482294612009-05-12T22:24:00.006-04:002009-05-19T13:01:52.038-04:00

I spent the last six days on the other side of the continent. After getting our tax refund this year, my wife and I decided to use part of it to take a real vacation, something we hadn't done since our honeymoon five-and-a-half years ago. Initially I was reluctant because of the amount of money it was going to cost. It was money we had, I don't go into debt for something like this, but it was

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-11142197515277053852009-05-03T08:16:00.014-04:002009-05-19T13:02:18.783-04:00

When I started this blog, I really intended to write in it about three times per week. I figured I probably had enough content to fill that. I haven't written anything in this blog for a week now though, because I've been very busy working. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't often have to do overtime, but I've had a project launch on a very short deadline recently. That meant I've

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-64744986556583119652009-04-26T20:24:00.003-04:002009-04-26T20:37:47.399-04:00

As you will come to know if you continue reading this blog, my wife and I are huge fans of Rutgers sports, football in particular. My wife is an alumnus of Rutgers University and we started dating while she was a student there. We've been season ticket holders for football since 2000. During that time we've seen the Scarlet Knights be about as bad as a major college football program can be,

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-58103500874314058872009-04-24T20:54:00.006-04:002009-05-19T13:03:04.792-04:00

I'm not one for nostalgia, as those who know me could tell you. Things come and go in our lives, each has a place and a time, some last for long periods, others drift in and out quickly. I accepted this long ago, I don't fight change or try to hang onto things whose time has past. I may (or may not) mourn, then I adapt and look to what's next.So when I say to check out G.I. Joe: Resolute,

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-67065243099405111692009-04-21T21:08:00.004-04:002009-04-21T21:17:11.503-04:00

Meet Nick and Liz, who traveled all the way to Boston to see Bruce Springsteen despite the fact that they live in the same town that he does.I've been putting in extra hours at work this week. That's pretty rare for me, but I know lots of people have to do it all the time so I can't complain too much. It's unusual for me to have a hard-and-fast deadline, but I have one coming up so I have do

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-89342678328385880572009-04-18T11:10:00.004-04:002009-06-14T19:45:00.890-04:00

There was just a bird in my yard of a type I've never encountered. According to my Sibley Guide to Birds, it was a pileated woodpecker. I tried to get a picture, but it was aware of me before I was of it. It hopped onto one of our trees and kept moving to be on the side opposite me. Eventually when I got close enough to get a decent picture, it took off.It was a truly striking bird though,

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-22182364542751665292009-04-17T20:18:00.006-04:002009-05-19T13:03:43.919-04:00

Watch this now: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Trailer 4a, in whatever resolution your computer can handle. Obviously, the bigger the better. I am a fan of the Harry Potter books and films and I think they (the films) have gotten successively better. That makes sense, as the lead actors have gotten more experienced and better with each films. This film, as you may know, was

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-34086634574909088932009-04-12T10:48:00.002-04:002009-04-12T11:11:20.754-04:00

When I was in Boy Scouts years ago, I remember someone telling me, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." This was good advice. When embarking on a new project, it's really a good idea to take some time to think about what you're doing before you start. In this case, I'm referring to my music project. I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm ripping all our music to a new server. I was

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-1507107968453426512009-04-08T20:03:00.006-04:002009-04-09T20:21:24.685-04:00

There's a beer I saw in my local store lately that I decided to try called "Wild Blue Blueberry Lager." In case you're like me and you like to try new and different beers that look interesting, don't. This stuff is vile. It's only the second beer I've ever poured out rather than finish. Ugh. If you feel the need for blueberry in your beer (say, at an early-morning tailgate), try Bar Harbor

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-55122748726088043072009-04-07T20:46:00.021-04:002009-04-07T23:25:14.276-04:00

You've played guitar hero, haven't you? Of course you have, everyone has at this point. Maybe Rock Band.? Possibly both. Some game where you emulate a rock musician in front of a screen. I have GH3 for the Wii myself. I enjoy it, but the problem is, I can't play for more than about 15 minutes before I have to stop because my eyes hurt. So, that kind of took away some of the appeal. After

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-815836616657065399.post-55451122496385876372009-04-05T20:27:00.003-04:002009-04-05T21:17:36.820-04:00

I'm sitting here ripping music, and was reading a friend's blog, and thought, "I've thought about doing that for a long time. I really ought to just do it if I'm going to do it." So, here I am. I've just started the ripping process and it's going to take a long time, but while I'm doing it I can write a blog post. Maybe I'll try to make that a ritual I do a few times a week.Also when I say "

Dan McDevitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16101816072198538250noreply@blogger.com1