Album Art - Tetragnatha!

BEHOLD - The first album cover from the famed Christian Metal Rock Band - Tetragnatha!

The above art is a quick Album cover I threw together because it looked like a fun Challenge.
My Twitter friend @joshuamauldin posted his here and it looked really nice.
When I read the instructions I thought it sounded like it'd be a fun challenge and to give it a try.

Here are the instructions:

If you’re a Photoshop or other kind of image making nerd, you may enjoy this.

1. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3. Go to http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
EDIT: I noticed most all of the "intersting" photos were copyrighted. I decided to see if I could use the same random 3rd photo using the creative commons license, and much to my surprise it seemed to work real well with my idea. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
4. Use Photoshop (or something else!) to put it all together.
5. Post a link to it and share with your friends!

>>>

Original photo attribute: Sinfomano

Economic "crisis"

I've hesitated posting anything about the recent economic mess we're in.
I have friends and family that are being directly effected by this mess. I continue to send thoughts and prayers to them and their families to make it through this mess and come out on the other side of it all.

I want to throw these few ideas out there though.
I have never really been into anything even remotely associated with "finance".
I never used to follow politics either. It wasn't until maybe 5-10 years that it started to capture my interest. I would still consider myself a 'beginner" when it comes to understanding these heavy duty issues. But I'm learning. I'm becoming more aware. That said...

A few days ago (possibly a week), I happened to catch a small clip on the Kieth Olberman show. I rarely watch his show. He's basically the "lefty Bill O'Rielly". But this clip caught my attention for some reason. It was a Representative named Paul Kanjorski and he was being interviewed on C-span. The exact date is a bit in dispute. I'll paraphrase here, since I can't find the original clip anymore... He said that on This particular day (right around the time that Lehman Bros Bank failed) That the Fed Reserve "noticed" there was an electronic "run on the banks". People (for some reason) decided on this particualar morning that today was the day to withdraw their money from a rather safe Money market (I think that's the right term). In a period of about 1-2 hours... They saw 550 BILLION Dollars withdrawn from the market. Let me repeat that... in 1-2 hours, 550 BILLION DOLLARS were no longer in play. Rep. Kanjorski said something to the effect that IF the run had continued that by 2pm they would have seen a loss of 5.5 TRILLION! In a nutshell... a complete economic collapse in the USA.
What shoocked me most about hearing this info, was that I wasn't aware of it. I follow the news pretty closely, and not once did I hear any news of this sort.
Earlier in the week I watched a special on PBS on the show called Frontline called "Inside the meltdown", that explained how we started down this rabbit hole of the econimic mess we're in. I had a hard time keeping up with it all. But the two names that they seemed to pin it on, was Bernanke, and Paulson.
As I type this, now, The Market today saw one of its worst days in a while, and the DOW around 2pm hit the lowest it's been in 11 years. Not only that... But there are rumors today that the Government 'might' step in and take over two of America's largest banks... Citigroup, and Bank of America. Due to these rumors, their stocks have both tumbled. Citgroup was under $2 a share (some on twitter where saying that's less than their ATM fee!). BofA was around $3.
I will not be the least bit surprised if over the weekend, that something major doesn't happen.
While I TRY my hardest to remain optimistic, it's difficult. I think we're in a real mess here.
I think this is a GLOBAL crisis also, not just one or two American banks.
I think I'm going to start looking for books about the great depression, to see how people survived it. I think our past may help us get through this mess. You know the ol' saying - Those who don't know the past are doomed to repeat it.
I'm keeping an eye on my bank's stock, and while I feel somewhat safe that my accounts are FDIC insured, It's still scary.
So as not to sound ALL gloom and doom...
The Dow did Rally a little towards the end of the day.
The Gov has issued statements that it will NOT take over citigroup or BofA.
So perhaps TODAY is the turning point. Perhaps things will start to level off next week.
I even saw a news article that said perhaps now is the time to buy a house.

One last point... I also hesitated posting this because EVERY time you turn the news on it's words of caution, and fear, and scare tactics. Even the Frontline show I saw was full of "scary music and a narrator who sounded like he was narrating an Edgar Allan Poe poem". A certain part of the blame for this mess goes directly towards the Media. I try not to listen to a lot of it. I jump in, get some basic news, then turn it off. It can certainly depress you to listen to too much at once.

Hang on folks.
These are interesting times we're in.
Don't let the fear mongering get to you, and stay strong.
Families need to support one another. Friends need to be there.
Hopefully we'll make it through and things will start to pick up again soon.

Wegman's isn't perfect...

UPDATE:
OOPS!!! MY BAD!!!
So a bablubird (username) was kind enough to stop into the local Wegmans today and see if they in fact pulled the product from the shelf... well, it turns out, I made the mistake (though you could see why)... apparently the date I saw that said "Mar 06" was the month and DAY not the YEAR.
I just called the "Great Range Bison" company in Colorado, and confirmed this. The woman was very nice and explained the process to me. It's shipped fresh and not frozen, and has a 25-28 day shelf life. She was able to pull the most recent shipment and confirmed that it matched the March 6th date.
So, My apologies to Wegmans and Great Range.
In my defense, with today's recent peanut scare, I think they should ad the full date to the product date stamp. (I wonder why the two guys behind the meat counter didn't know this, and didn't explain that to me, rather than snicker?)

Well, I think I've 'gushed' on my blog in the past about how much I like Wegmans (a supermarket). Tonight... not so much.
I wandered over to the meat section. Occasionally they have smaller cuts of rib-eye steaks that I enjoy for around $4. not tonight. I was looking over some of the meat selections, when I saw the ground Buffalo meat. I have bought this a few times in the past, with the idea that it would be healthier than eating ground beef. Well, tonight I learned that the Buffalo is very expensive! (I think it was around $10.50 a pound!) I don't know if the price went up since last I bought it, or if I just didn't take notice before.
But... here's the kicker...
I flipped the package over, and saw the "sell by or Freeze before" date... it was September of 2006!!
I looked again... 2006?! That can't be right. I picked up a few more, and they were all around that time! Then I picked up a packed of buffalo cuts, and it was 2004!!!?
I don't know the story behind this. Perhaps it was a misprint (the meat did look "normal"). Perhaps it was frozen in a warehouse somewhere and accidentally was put on the store shelf. Regardless, if it was correct, that could be dangerous! I felt obligated to tell someone.
I saw a guy come out from the back room, and stopped him. I told him. He sort of shrugged and said, I should tell the two men standing behind the meat counter. OK.
I walk up to the counter, and tell them the same thing... they smile.
That was not the reaction I was expecting. I almost said something right then and there, but the guy must have seen my expression, because he lost his smile real quick. Then (as if they didn't believe me) they had me show them what I was talking about. Again, he kinda snickered.
As I'm standing there, he realizes I wasn't leaving and he just turns and says "Thanks".
So I moved on.
As I continued shopping it really bothered me that they just kinda laughed, and the time that I did watch them, they were making no effort to pull the product from the shelf.
After paying for my food, I went to the customer service desk.
I explained it to them also, and then told them that the guys smiled and laughed when I told them. The woman apologized for their behavior.
I'm VERY tempted to drive back tomorrow night to see if they pulled the meat from the shelves or just left it there.
Shame on you Wegmans.

quick story

Just a quick little post here.
I have family that is about to embark on a new journey in a new apartment/house (it looks wonderful!). It got me to thinking how much I don't like the space I currently live in (A small one bedroom apartment).
I can put up with a lot of things, but the main thing that bothers me is the noise from thin walls. I have pretty much solved my squirrel problem by buying my own trap, and learning how to lure them in (caught 2 so far), and am expecting a spring visit, but we'll see.
So I hopped onto craigslist the other day and found what looked like a nice place for a pretty good increase in rent. I could prob do it without much of a sacrifice.
I sent an email to my other family member and asked for advice and opinion.
She responded by saying (paraphrasing) I should pray to God for guidance...
My response...
Are you kidding me? Even He Himself couldn't rent a room at the Inn and ended up in a cave/barn/manger!
Gosh... I sure do hope the "Big Guy" has a sense of humor. :)

Crickets

Chirp - Chirp - Chirp...

Sorry, nothing to say lately.

Chess ratings

Chess.com is a place you'll find me frequenting practically every weekday at lunchtime. I enjoy playing chess. I find the simple fact that few games are ever alike and that it never gets boring or repetitive is pretty amazing.
Around December, I decided to step up and try to enter a tournament. A direct competition with anywhere from 3-10 other people (usually guys) in a best of two games. The winner of the first round moves on to the next. I shocked myself! I played really well, and almost won the 1st place spot! (took second). In addition, my rating sky-rocketed to almost 1700! (I usually am around 1400). I was feeling like I was starting to learn the game!
Well... I am in a rut like you would not believe. Perhaps I just got lucky, perhaps I was trying really hard because it was my first tournament, I'm not sure why exactly, but I can't seem to get my rating back up to how I was playing around early December.
At lunchtime, I play what is called "blitz chess" in that each game lasts 10 minutes (or less) per person (so a max of a 20 minute game, but that's extremely rare). I was up around a 1500 blitz rating. Well, not anymore. I've dropped to just around 1400, and can't seem to break that.
I find myself becoming frustrated, because I felt like I had something before that I can't recapture. I keep trying new tactics where I 'thought' that's what I was doing in December, but to no avail.
As I was re-thinking about all this the other day, I had a different thought. Perhaps the rating system is flawed?!
As a person plays more games, you would think that your rating would even out. But that doesn't seem to be the case. There are always new players joining chess.com, who always start off at 1200. So I could be playing a 1300, and loose to this guy who in actuality is really a 1600 player.
If it were a closed system, the ratings should level off, and be fairly accurate, but now I realize that's not the case. (I am still thinking about this, so I may change my opinion later).
I'm curious now if anyone has done a study on this. It seems ripe for study.
If there are any chess players who find this post, I'd be interested in your thoughts on this... do you feel any rating system is accurate? what sort of swing is normal? etc...
Meanwhile, I'll go back to pushing pieces around in the hopes I'll learn something.
If you ever want to play me, just look up cyenobite on chess.com

Unicorns and kittens

I hate to sound like a broken record, because I'm almost tired of hearing it myself, but today was a historical day. I am glad I chose to take a half day off so I could watch the Inauguration. I thought it very interesting, and while I'm not crazy enough to want to go sit outside in 20 degree weather, and putting up with all the crowds, I was glad to be home watching the show up close on my television. I mostly watched the C-span channel as they didn't have a lot of commentary. A few times I flipped over to CNN and FOX but could only put up with their ramblings for about 5 minutes.
I'm also VERY thankful that there didn't appear to be any "incidents". All those people gathered in one spot I thought there might be something negative happening, but so far I've not heard one thing.
I do have one image that I want to post about here that I think was an interesting observation...
I was surprised to see Cheney in a wheel chair. I think I heard someone say that he had recently had a slip or something and had gotten hurt. I hope he gets better. I have to laugh though, as several people in my twitter feed said that all he needed was a big white fluffy cat in his lap (apparently one of the famous James Bond villains was in a wheel chair with a fluffy cat).
Then a little while later, I watched George's father walking down the hallway with his cane. I was a bit surprised how old he looked (he is 84). I later learned that he recently had back surgery, and his balance was a little off. He seemed in good spirits but, he definitely had a shuffle walk.
Then I saw George himself, and he did not look happy at all. There was a certain glumness in his facial expression - and to me, it made him also look old.
So then it hit me... here are some of the key figures of the Bush administration leaving office with canes, and wheelchairs, and literally shuffling off... and making way for a youthful man who is fit and in shape. It made me feel good to see some of the "good ol' boys" network leaving office.
Mr. President... you have a lot on your plate now, and a lot of problems to try and fix. I do not envy you at all... but I wish you all the best, and HOPE we as a country can start to fix some of the problems that the previous administration has left us.