Neil showed me the Way Back Machine at Archive.org earlier this week. I had never heard of this before. It's basically a system that takes snapshots of websites at a point in time and permanently archives it. Holy crap. So, I decided to find my old web pages from college. I had numerous designs for my sites ten years ago, and archive.org had indexed one:

http://www.d.umn.edu/~mhodnick/

But that's not even the cool part...

While clicking through my old pages, I found that archive.org actually archived a whole bunch of old WAV files that I had posted. Specifically, a series of audio files of me interviewing friends and classmates about their feelings on dirt. Yes, dirt. There's a bunch of other audio I found too. You can view all of the audio at http://www.kindohm.com/mp3/reallyold/.

So, I worked with the dirt_nate.wav sample a bit and stuck it into a new experimental tune that I worked on last night: dirt.mp3. It was just a little experiment, but I think it'll turn into a full-fledged tune in the near future.

I've decided to re-join Medalist again this Fall. I took the summer off and it was a good break. I wasn't sure that I would come back this Fall, but Lee is now the new percussion section leader and a few other percussionists have quit, and I think we'll have a really solid section this year full of good players.

I've been looking around for something new to carry around all my percussion gear in. I have a stick bag, but it's not very good for hauling around misc. gear like triangle clamps, papers, music, tuners, or Mad Libs [1]. I came across one of these in my searching for a new bag/case:

Vic Firth Stick Case

This looks like it'd be pretty decent. This case would hold a lot more crap than my stick bag. It has that fancy stick-tray thing but I doubt I'd use that.

The only downside is that it's $60, and that's a bit steep. I was hoping to find something like an small, old, used hard-shell suitcase, but I couldn't find anything on like eBay that would work. Nikki also suggested buying something like a music instrument case and ripping out its guts to make just a plain case, but it'd still cost about $75 for a generic instrument case.

[1] Mad Libs are handy to have around during rehearsals as a percussionist. Or, any other reading material or something that can help waste time. Those 2nd movement TACETS or 124-measure rests absolutely bite as a percussionist.

The days are just getting a little cooler, the sun is setting a little earlier, and NFL training camps are beginning to wrap up. All this can only mean one thing: the 2006-2007 NHL season is only about a month away!

That's right. For those of you who follow the Minnesota Wild, make sure you get the downloadable Outlook schedule that you can import into Outlook. It'is one of the very few nice features that wild.com provides. Otherwise for the most part wild.com is lame. They put a lot of effort into that site but it just looks kind of tacky to me, and there aren't ANY RSS feeds anywhere to be found. Kind of hard to use and navigate through too.

Lee and I will be meeting to divide up our season tickets sometime soon. It's always a really fun thing we do each year. I'm usually surprised at his "top games" that he goes for, but that's ok because then I get the ones I want :) This year we'll probably be selling off more of our tickets than we have in the past. If any of you out there would be interested in buying a bunch of games, let me know and I'll put you on my list. I'll probably just send out a massive email to everyone who is interested once I get my games and decide which ones I don't want, and then it's first-come-first-serve after that.

It should be a pretty exciting season for the Wild with all the new talent they picked up. The club has closed their first chapter and is beginning a new one this year.

Yesterday we went to the Minnesota state fair with Eva and had a blast. The first thing we did after walking in was get some corn dogs. An army of my family from Duluth came down to the fair too so we hooked up with them around noon, rode the giant slide, got some malts, watched the parade, and then just meandered around a bit.

We actually saw Minnesota hockey legend Lou Nanne walking around on the street. I don't think I'd call it a brush with fame at all but it was fun to see him among the crowd.

We had dinner with my parents, then walked up to see my friend Lee and his display of tractors. This is the 2nd year he's shown off his work, and he does an excellent job of tractor restoration.

Around 7:30 or so we hooked up with Nikki's parents, rode with Eva on the carousel by the grandstand, had more food, and walked around the midway for a while. If you're adventurous and like the crazy rides, check out the Space Roller down at the very end of the midway. I don't think I've ever seen people get whipped around up in the air so fast. It looked like a blast to ride.

If you go to the MN state fair this year, I'd highly recommend getting some of those chocolate chip cookies that you get in a little paper cone container. They are fantastic. And a few corn dogs too.

Eva got this t-shirt from my cousin Matt for her birthday:

Now, if there was only another t-shirt that said "I listen to Fantomas with my daddy"...

A little YouTube artifact... the Melvins on some German show (circa early 90's?) talking about album covers. Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56dW1jp0Ik

Also, the Melvins are out of the studio and will be releasing another CD on October 10th (supposedly). They'll also be playing at the Fine Line in Minneapolis on September 25th, but I'm not sure I can make it. We shall see.

Eva had her one-year birthday on Friday. Woohoo happy birthday Eva! On Saturday we had a party for her in our backyard and it was pretty fun. We took about 160 pictures, but unfortunately they're all on our home computer which I rarely use these days. I'll have to make some time for getting the good ones up on Flickr.

Eva also had her 12-month checkup today and got four different vaccinations. She also had her finger poked for a hemoglobin test. She was actually pretty curious about getting her finger poked - she just watched the technician and her finger and smiled the whole time. I was expecting screams and tears but instead she actually enjoyed it. Weird kid :)

My copy of the Halo Graphic Novel came in yesterday. It's kinda neat. There are four stories in it, and in a way I'm a little disappointed because it's such a short "book". Oh well. The content that is there is fun to read, and adds more questions and answers to the Halo story. e.g. one of the stories practically confirms that the "Ark" is on Earth. Another is about a retired Spartan (Maria) and she mentions that she started a family. Ummm, ok.

The other two stories are about one encounter that the Covenant have with the Flood and also about Sgt. Johnson and how he escaped from the Flood in Halo: CE. The last section of the book is all art and drawings of characters.

Overall I was expecting more, but the price was right at $16.49 on Amazon.

Yes, there is. You can actually view the entire background history and timeline of the Halo story originating on Earth in the year 2160 to 2552 (post-First Strike and pre-Halo 2) at HBO's Halo Story Timeline. Most people probably aren't interested in all those details in the timeline. I'll probably be told that I need to get a life for writing about this :) Oh well. It's fun sci-fi.

Halo 2, the graphic novel, and another Halo novel by Eric Nylund entitled Ghosts of Coral continue the story and timeline. Ghosts of Coral will be out on 10/31/2006, and I'll definitely be picking it up. Sadly, these books are about the only ones that I read. At all. I get crap from a lot of peers about not reading. What can I say... I'm scared of books. A book tried to eat me once.

I just ordered the Halo Graphic Novel today. I happened to take a quick browse around HBO and noticed that a lot of fan/halo story speculation has arisen as a result of this new book. The universe of the Halo story is deep and rich, and I've enjoyed keeping up with it. This novel supposedly fills in some gaps in the storyline (which spans way outside of the video games). I'm eager to see what's inside.

On the Halo side of things, I actually hooked up with three friends online last night and we played some matchmade-Team SWAT for a few hours. SWAT is always fun. No shields, no motion sensors. It's a little more like real life :) Anyway, it was fun to play a few games.

In the news you've probably heard that the definition of a planet may change and as a result more planets may be added to our solar system. This article describes the change and the issues involved. When I had heard that there was some unrest and controversey around this proposal, I figured it had to do with the general public not being able to deal with the idea that the "inventory of planets would soar". Imagine having hundreds of new planets added to our Solar System.

Well I was wrong, at least according to what is reported in the article. It looks like the controversey has more to do with scientists not being able to agree on a resolution to re-classify planets and the system used to introduce new planets into the Solar System. Well, that I can understand.

At first I wanted to rant about the general public caring about how many planets are in our Solar System, because who really cares? So you grew up knowing there were nine planets. Tomorrow there will be 24. Oh darn.

I'm curious to read articles on the public's reaction to this. I'm also curious to see if this will follow through in the scientific community. Ultimately it won't really affect anyone's life here on earth, other than astronomers. It'd be interesting to see what teachers would use for 3D/moving Solar System models in classrooms though as the number of planets increases :)

I just thought I'd write a list of the top 10 rock shows I've ever been to. Here they are, in order from best to not-as-best:

1. Helmet, summer 1996?, First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN. The Melvins and Skeleton Key opened. Helmet was (and still is) my favorite band of all time and that probably made it the most memorable experience. However I had never seen the Melvins play until that night and I didn't realize how loud and damn good they were until then. Helmet played a pretty extensive encore too that night and dug deep into some noisy old stuff too.
2. Nothingface, summer 2001, Quest Club, Minneapolis, MN. My friend Bill and I went to this show mainly to see the opening band From Zero, but Nothingface was pretty incredible. The guitarist wore a cowboy hat. I got a drumstick. I still have it, but I'll probably throw it away sometime soon.
3. Pantera, fall 2001, Target Center, Minneapolis, MN. I hate the Target Center as a venue, but this concert was so loud that it didn't matter. Nothing but pure power. Imagine pyrotechnics and a flaming Pantera logo behind a giant stack of Marshall speaker cabinets. Nothingface, Soulfly, and Morbid Angel opened. It was also the first (and only) time I got to see Soulfly.
4. Fear Factory, fall 1999, First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN. Static-X, hed (pe), and System of a Down opened. What a lineup, eh? I went with a few friends and none of us had ever heard of the opening bands, and we were blown away. Seeing Wayne Static on stage in a track suit, tall black hair and goatee extensions while cranking out grinding riffs was something else. I lost a little bit of my like of Fear Factory after this show though. They screwed up a few times.
5. 311, fall 1997, Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, MN. This was in support of their Transistor album, and Sugar Ray opened. Evidently a kid jumped off the balcony and killed themselves before Sugar Ray started playing. 311 was my top 2 band next to Helmet and this was the first time I got to see them. They played an extremely long show and played stuff deep into their 4 albums at the time.
6. Tool, summer 2001, XCel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN. Tool are untouchable geniuses. Meshuggah opened. We had great seats on the lower level, right in line with the stage off stage right. The seats were great because you could see the looks on their faces and see how they listened and interacted with each other on stage while playing complex parts. It was also the first time I'd ever heard or seen Meshuggah. They wore hockey jerseys and bludgeoned everyone's ears with math and noise.
7. Melvins, summer 2001?, Quest Club, Minneapolis, MN. This show was great because not a lot of people showed up and it was easy to get to the front. The band had one extra member that night on guitar, and they were all wearing homemade camoflauge dresses. Really damn loud.
8. Sevendust, summer 1999, somewhere in WI. Staind, Powerman 5000, and Skunk Anansie opened. Skunk Anansie was absolutely repulsive, but the rest of the show was excellent.
9. Korn, spring 1996, Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, MN. I've never really cared for Korn's image they developed over time, but they can play. I'd never heard so much bass in a live setting before. Limp Bizkit opened, and they hadn't even released their first CD yet. Helmet also opened, which was a bit of a mis-match.
10. Fear Factory, summer 2001, La Crescent Arena, La Crescent, WI. A rock show in La Crescent? It was more like a gymnasium. Weird. Anyway, it was a great show because of the full lineup: Dry Kill Logic, Primer 55, and Puya opened. Fear factory was good but it solidified the fact that they're a better studio band than live.

Other notable shows:

• Slipknot, Sevendust, 200?, Madison, WI. Skipknot is a must-see-at-least-one-time band, but they were a little boring for my tastes. They were more about the shock and show than the music. Their albums are kinda like that too, but they were interesting to watch.
• Rush, spring 1994, Target Center, Minneapolis, MN. This was actually my first concert ever. It was super-memorable, but my attraction to Rush really diminished after this concert. They just kinda lost their idol-like status in my mind after seeing them. It also made me realize that live shows in arenas are terrible. Primus opened, and they were equally disappointing. This was also the first time I'd ever seen anybody smoke pot.
• Korn, Rob Zombie, spring 1999, Fargo Dome, Fargo, ND. My like of Korn was already decreasing before seeing them at this show. I was never a big fan of Rob Zombie, but after seeing this show I liked him a lot more. He's definitely a showman and a rock star. Where else can you see a 20 foot robot on stage?
• Van Halen, 1995?, Target Center, Minneapolis, MN. I used to be a giant Van Halen fan, and this show kind of put an end to that chapter in my life. Big arena show that kinda sucked, but it was at least cool to see a popular all-time guitarist in person.
• Mudvayne, Disturbed, 2001, Madison, WI. We went to see Mudvayne, but I was disappointed in the sound production for the show. It just sounded bad. Disturbed actually headlined the show and they didn't disappoint in the live setting, although I've never really cared for their stuff.
• 311, spring 2000, Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, MN. This was in support of their Soundsystem album. Jimmy's Chicken Shack opened (yawn). 311 never disappoints.
• Tomahawk, Melvins, Skeleton Key, 2003, Quest Club, Minneapolis, MN. I was there for the Melvins, but Mike Patton and Tomahawk were headlining in support of the Mit Gas album. I swear this was the loudest I'd ever heard the Melvins play. At the time I wasn't really into Patton's stuff like I am now, so I didn't really enjoy Tomahawk that much, although it was fun watching Helmet's former drummer in that band. Patton was great though - wearing a nice button up shirt and combed, slicked-back hair with a smile. The guy is insane and a musical genius.

Today I gave my first shot at putting resilient channel (RC) up in the soundproof room. It was a little tricky at first because the RC is manufactured with 4" holes (e.g. for 16" spaced studs), but a lot of the studs in the basement room aren't 16" apart. Thus, there was a bit more planning that I had to do.

The RC partially hung in the room

Perhaps the most fun part about the RC is cutting it. Sparks everywhere. Madness, I tell you. I'm hoping to have Nikki take a picture while I'm cutting it. It's quite a feeling having red-hot metal shards land on top of a freshly shaved head.

Cross section of the RC on a frame

It's also neat to see how the RC will work and how it will provide separation of the drywall from the frames (see cross section photo above for an example).

The only bad part about this is that it's more tedious than I thought it'd be. A lot of the pieces need to be custom cut (e.g. I can't just bulk cut a whole bunch of pieces for an entire wall) because there are non-standard stud spaces and random things like door frames and electrical boxes that cause variation. I'd be more efficient if I could get someone to cut while I measure and hang the RC. "Hey [friend's name], want to come over and help with my basement? Free pizza and beer!?" "Oh, no thanks, I'd rather just stay home and order some."

The new Guthrie Theater opened this summer. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about the new facility. While it's a really nice facility I don't really see what people are raving about.

First, there's a cantilever overlook that hangs over the back of the Guthrie. It's a little terrace that allows guests to take in the "view" of the Mississippi river. This is probably the single-most talked about feature of the new Guthrie - people say how great the view and the terrace is. Well, the terrace is tiny, and the view stinks. Who the hell wants to look at power lines, grain elevators, the freeway, and the industrial-looking locks? Don't believe the hype - the view isn't that spectacular. If you want a great view, get out of the city and go somewhere like Eagle Mountain.

Next, while the new facility is very modern looking, it's very stark and feels more like an airport terminal than a theater. I personally prefer more modern designs over traditional architecture but it felt very cold. The old Guthrie had a lot more warmth and intimacy to it, although it was a bit cramped during intermissions. Obviously since the Guthrie wanted to grow (it tripled the number of stages in the new building), so did it's facility. You can't be as intimite with a larger building. I suppose it was a necessary trade off.

It's not so much that I'm ranting about the Guthrie as much as I am about the people who rave about it. I have this feeling that the ravers are enthusiastic Guthrie patrons and supporters who would eagerly defend everything about the Guthrie no matter what they did.

I'd much rather see a bold design that is stark and cold than a tame design that is ok. The new Guthrie is definitely bold. I like that the building has its own feel without any question. The colors are deep and dark and I don't know of anything else that looks like the new Guthrie. While I don't know what people are raving about, it's an interesting place to take in.

Perhaps one of the coolest features was the chainmail curtains they have on the walls of the McGuire Proscenium Stage. Very bold, and very cool.

The Mobius Strip is a fascinating mathematical phenomenon.

Did you know that you can make one out of common everyday objects such as bread crusts?

Yes, it is a Mobius Crust. It's hard to believe it, but it is real. Unfortunately the picture doesn't really do it justice as you can't see all of the curves, but it really is a Mobius Crust. My next challenge is to create a Mobius RSS Feed.

Nikki and I celebrated our five-year anniversary (a few days late) by going out to dinner and then a show at the new Guthrie. We parked over at the new Guthrie and then walked over to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. They have damn good lasagna.

After dinner we walked back to the Guthrie, saw The Real Thing, and checked out a bit of the new Guthrie site. The show was excellent and I'd recommend seeing it. We sat in the third row, and it wasn't too close... for drama I think it's always fun to be able to see the actors act up close.

We were originally planning on seeing The Chris Olson Trio at The Dakota, but the show didn't start until 11:30. The grandparents had Eva overnight, and we were picking her up in the morning. Some long, uninterrupted sleep was also a plan for our evening, so we decided to change plans and not go to such a late show. Man this paragraph has nothing but "I'm getting old" written all over it. If you've never been to the Dakota before, then I highly recommend it. It's one of the town's biggest (not in terms of size) jazz venues and it's a great setting.

The area around the Guthrie that is being developed is really picking up steam... tis going to be a busy place in Minneapolis once everything gets built...

On Tuesday after work I picked up about $200 worth of resilient channel (a.k.a. RC) to begin one of the final stages of soundproofing in the basement. Damn, I should have taken a picture to make this post more interesting... but anyway, it was a lot of metal to haul in the little Honda Civic [1].

I also picked up a metal cut-off saw blade for cutting the RC with my miter saw.  I have a hacksaw, but I figured I'd need to make somewhere between 30 and 50 cuts, and I'd rather not use a hacksaw for that much sawing.  The cut-off blade looks like a vinyl record or a thin grinding wheel.  Kinda weird... it's just a lightweight, abrasive material.  Makes sense though when you see it and think about it.

I'm hoping to put up all the RC in August. What does that mean? It means that we'll probably have drywall up in September! That is such a huge milestone because this project has dragged on for about two years now. After drywall, I'll complete the final stage of soundproofing too, which includes filling in drywall gaps with expanding foam and caulk.

Also on the soundproofing front, I have a Soundproofing Tutorial in the works. There is very little good information out on the internet about soundproofing, so I thought I'd attempt to fill that gap with some writing and illustrations that are actually coherent and based on real-world experience. Not that I'm a great writer or anything, but most stuff out there is crap and it drives me crazy when people make a poor attempt at trying to explain a complex subject.

[1] Yet more support for not needing to buy a truck or SUV. I've worked on this entire project while owning an Accord and a Civic. There are very few loads I've hauled where a truck was needed, and on those rare occasions it's been easy to call up a relative who'll be more than glad to help. I wondered about 2-3 years ago if I'd need a truck for all the work on this project, and now I know that I didn't.

I was looking at a bio of Meshuggah and stumbled across this picture:

The guy on the left is wearing a Wild jersey. I knew they were good people :)