Snowflakes in Hell

I promise not to bore my non-classical-music-loving readers with this part of my life often, but my post yesterday comparing skills and knowledge got me thinking about piano again, so I was thinking back to some old pieces that I had started on and never finished. I have CDs of many of them so I was going back for a listen. The real danger of iTunes is that you suddenly have a world of music at your fingertips, and can go find, download, and listen to anything immediately. This can be a problem for the credit card if you lack self-discipline. But you can tell the pieces I’ve always been in love with by how many different recordings I have of them. One thing I never got to do when I played was play a piano concerto. One of my great disappointments in life that I never had the discipline to complete one when I could play. One day, when I have a lot of free time, I might finally learn one and then go find a local amateur orchestral group to play it with. It’s an oversight I’d really like to fix someday.

I started, but never finished Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. You could just as easily say the Grieg Piano Concerto, because he only ever wrote but one. It’s fairly well recognized even by non-classical music fans though, and most people are familiar with the first couple of measures of the piece. I have only one recording of it though, by Pianist Santiago Rodriguez. Rodriguez is an excellent Pianist, but his interpretation of these pieces is a bit too fast tempo for my liking. Excessive tempo is a common pet peeve of mine in classical recordings. I feel that often a slower, more deliberate pace allows more of the color in the piece to come out. One exception to this is the complete recording of Beethoven’s Symphonies by John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, which are at faster tempi than normally recorded, and on period instruments. In this case I believe the pieces are enhanced by the faster tempo, and the period instrumentation and orchestra size produces a very clean sound. It’s so good I have a hard time listening to a slower recording with a modern orchestra without thinking how much better this recording sounds.

But back to the Grieg. I was looking for a different take on his piano concerto, so I just downloaded, and am really enjoying Arthur Rubinstein’s recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting. It’s a slower, more expressive pace than the Rodriguez recording, but hey, it’s also Rubinstein, who is regarded as one of the great pianists, if not the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Along with the recording of the Grieg Piano Concerto I get yet another recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto Number 2 in C Minor. I have two others, one by Earl Wild, and the other by Vladimir Ashkenazy. I’m probably more partial to the Ashkenazy performance than I am by the Earl Wild performance, but there’s much to be said for both of them. We’ll see how I end up liking Rubinstein’s take of the piece.

The northeast is getting whited out again. It’s coming down 5-9 inches by the end of the day, and 6-12 by the time this is all over. I’ll be working from home. Tomorrow may be dicey too. Fortunately, I just switched work over to a 35 megabit/sec synchronous fiber connection from an old T1 circuit, which makes working from home not that materially different than working at the office.

Here’s a topic for discussion as you either take a break from digging out or take a break from watching footage of people digging out:

What so-called “chick flicks” should a man suck it up and see? You know, the ones that are cultural classics or just so often referenced that it makes more sense to just get those two (or more) hours out of the way to say you’ve seen it.

For example, I have forced Sebastian to watch Gone with the Wind, My Fair Lady, and Dirty Dancing. Because who doesn’t see those movies? It’s just part of our common culture. There are enough jokes about putting Baby in the Corner and common references to frankly just not giving a damn that you have to see the movies to get it.

It’s not a classic, but I also made Sebastian watch Atonement with me because I thought it was just a good movie. (Although I’m always very angry after watching it.) It had some war, so that was enough to convince him to sit still. (And really, that Dunkirk scene.)

Now I’m debating whether to make him watch the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice with me. I’ve seen several versions, but I hear this is the best. Is Mr. Darcy an important enough literary figure that he should know what the hell references to him mean? Or is making any man watch even the film version of an Austen story considered cruel and unusual punishment that is only slightly less harsh than actually reading her?

Beyond the question of Pride & Prejudice, are there others that you guys recommend? Anything the women in your lives made you watch that you’re now happy you saw because, at the very least, you now understand references in the real world?

Take a small brandy snifter, much like this one, and go outside and fill it with snow (white snow only, stay away from the yellow variety). Bring it back inside and slowly fill it with a reasonably good bourbon, in my case Eagle Rare. Mix slowly until no snow is remaining. The end result will be a neat bourbon, slightly chilled. Not bad for a snowed-in winter’s evening.

If you listen to the news, “AHHH!  Worst! Storm! Ever! We’re all gonna die!” But it’s nearly one in the afternoon and it’s still coming down:

I’m really not looking forward to digging the cars out of this. Strangely enough, DC and points south are getting a lot more snow than we are, and it sounds like Cemetery up in Jersey City isn’t getting any of it.

Oh well, we’re stuck in today. On the agenda today is making some homemade ice cream, finishing up my kind-of-sort-of Belgian Wit. We also have a few movies to watch, and last night decided to stick in HBO’s “John Adams” which I guess we’ll have to finish. I also have a bottle of Eagle Rare, so who needs to go out anyway?

UPDATE: Getting in some pics from an NRA friend on Facebook in DC. My god:

Perhaps both sides in this debate are going to end up buried under the ice like cases of McKinlay. Remember folks, eat the pets first, before you turn on each other! That goes for the Brady folks too. Don’t get any ideas just because his last name is Hamm.

Looks like my dad got a good bit more than us too out near Reading:

I was not selected for a trial, and they dismissed the remaining jurors this afternoon. I am now $15.80 richer, thanks to the state feeling like they have to pay me, so this doesn’t get misconstrued as slavery, or something like that. The good thing is, it wasn’t a lost day, since they had WiFi in the jury lounge and I was able to VPN into work while I waited for them to tell me they didn’t need me.

I think I can now safely say I have a good luck streak going with jury duty. First time I got called I was in college, and it was the feds calling. They kept deferring me until they finally got me after I graduated. It was two days or one trial. Narrowly missed being selected for one panel the judge said would probably take four days or more. Didn’t get selected in another, and was sent home after just one day. Second time I was called it was Delaware County, and I had just moved to Chester County two weeks ago. Easy out. This time I don’t even end up getting considered, and am sent home after a few hours.

I figure next time my luck will run out, and I’ll get stuck on some complex civil trial for weeks. But for at least the next three years, I don’t have to worry about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bothering me again.

UPDATE: For those wondering, I did not check a firearm with the Sheriff. By law all courthouses in PA are required to have checking facilities for people who carry firearms. Court houses are one of the few places off limits in PA. Some Courts have a reputation of not dealing with this well, and it would have been a good activist of me to go and check a firearm just so they have to run through the process every once in a while, and remain used to the idea. But I had to be in Doylestown at 8:30, which means I needed to leave at 7:30, there was snow on the ground, and I just didn’t want to deal with getting delayed if they Sheriff wasn’t used to handling it.

Sebastian was called up for jury duty this morning. Because he was working very late last night, getting up early was less than ideal. Add to the fact that he never leaves enough time to get ready in the morning when his schedule changes, snow, and a rush hour he’s not used to, and you have the makings of a stressed out Sebastian.

But, he’s doing something good for the community – or something. He took his phone and computer. Hopefully he can get some work done or do a bit of blogging. Of course, there’s not much to find out there. Things are pretty slow right now.

Given that people seemed to like our Gun Nut Merry Christmas tree, I figured I’d post a few more photos snapped of it before the ornaments came off.

Nothing worse than laying awake in bed until 2:30AM because you’ve been sleeping in all week, and then having to wake up to your morning alarm, tired, and knowing you have to go back to the grind. To top off my welcome back to the working world, the PA Turnpike was all messed up with several accidents, no doubt because everyone forgot how to drive over the holidays.

Please bear with me as I get back to my normal routine. If case you’re just coming back too, and missed the big Holiday excitement in the gun news world, take a look at the discovery of Bloomberg’s secret plan to screw gun owners. Well, no longer a secret really, thanks to Chuck Michel at calgunlaws.com.

Not really, but it sure does feel that way, doesn’t it?

Sebastian is crazy busy at work today. Sure, it’s the last day before vacation for him, but would you know that they scheduled some crazy something today that meant he had to get up and leave earlier than normal after working later than usual and having put in most weekends the last month. In theory, I know a little more about what’s keeping him busy at work that I’m sure you fellow techies would understand, but if I screw something up in explaining it, I’ll look like an idiot to this audience. So instead, we’ll go with the highly technical “some crazy something.”

I, on the other hand, am doing household things. Like battling Wegmans for groceries for 3 hours. They were so busy that they had police running the traffic at intersections for the store. None of the stores selling Christmas presents in the same shopping center were busy, but Wegmans was crazy. They were also out of cranberries and I got the very last head of cauliflower. Fortunately, I know they were out of cauliflower because I got the very last head. Hahaha!

Now instead of reading the news, checking my email, and going to look for interesting gun news for commentary, I’m going to buy bourbon. Then I’ll come back and take a stab at a post to amuse and horrify anyone who is involved in the insurance industry – and it’s about guns, too! But the bourbon, in addition to making my cranberry sauce more flavorful and bourbon balls more spirited, will make the post writing flow a little easier.

You know you’re a gun nut when you decide to decorate your tree in the theme of the federal agency we all love to hate. I bring you, the ATF themed Christmas tree:

The real fun will be drinking the tree when we’re all done.

Not much to do today, short of finishing up a project for work. Snow is deep on the ground and continuing to come down. Once I finish the project for work, I have some work to do on my club’s web site.

Work is kicking my butt with end of the year stuff. We’re ramping up for a second project. I did not even have time to look at my blog today, let alone post on it, and last night I was out with some coworkers. Thanks to Bitter for filling in.

Spent 12 hours in bed today. Went to the doctor yesterday because my cold symptoms worsened after a week, including fever, and worst of all my eyelids welding shut from crap oozing out at of my eyes at night.. Turns out I have a secondary bacterial infection after the cold. Started an antibiotic Z-Pack yesterday and already feel a lot better. Not real keen on starting my vacation sick, but I’m only taking the days because I’ll lose them if I don’t, so not much recourse there.

Leaving work shortly, and will be on vacation for the rest of next week. Blogging will continue, but maybe not on the actual holiday. It’ll actually be a bit of a working vacation, since I have crap to do here that needs to be done by the end of the year. I’m mostly taking off because I have a lot of use-it-or-lose-it vacation left, and I might as well use it as an excuse to work (a lot less) from home.

Need to burn up some vacation before the end of the year. We’re headed to Fairfax County to meet up with some friends who work in areas that would horrify Nancy Pelosi. We’re also going to be stopping by Triangle of Death World Headquarters to visit with the Lairds of Fairfax. Blogging will be via iPhone, so bear with me.

When vacuuming under the sofa with the hand attachment, you hear the catch something with the suction. Pulling it out you realize it’s the phone you haven’t seen for a while. Every six months or so, I detail strip the house for a thorough cleaning. Since Bitter is away, and I am bored, now is one of those times. I’m hoping my missing Fenix LD10 flashlight shows up at some point.

Because Nintendo slashed the price of the Wii, Bitter and I decided it was time to get one. Who knew you could blog on it? It’s tedious but doable. Now to play.

UPDATE: I’m a fan of the Wii Play tank game. Bitter and I were also having fun with the boxing game, which gives opportunity to say “I’m going to beat you like I don’t want guns anymore!” Nintendo Wii, making domestic abuse a fun game since 2006!

Waiting for my connection in Las Vegas.  Looks like I’ll be delayed.  Unfortunately it takes a lot of traveling to get to Reno from the east coast, and there are no direct flights.  Original time of arrival was 11:30pm EDT.  I don’t really want to arrive later, but it looks like I will.  Fortunately the airport is WiFi enabled.

UPDATE: Finally home.  Normal blogging to resume tomorrow.

Jeff points to this article on men who don’t want to admit they love cats.  I don’t know, maybe it’s because I have enough guns to compensate for my inadequacies, as the anti-gun folks would surely believe, but I have no problem admitting to loving cats.  In fact, it’s a problem in our house, because Bitter is a dog person, and is allergic to cats.  I will have to wait until I live somewhere with enough land that I can have an indoor/outdoor cat.

Been having some difficulty with sleep for the past week or so.  Not so much staying up until all hours of the night kind of thing, but frequent waking, and not feeling like I’m getting deep, quality sleep.  I usually end up waking at about 5AM and not being able to get back to sleep in any productive way (normal wake-up time is 7:30-8 for me, typical workday goes from 9-9:30 to around 7 or so, sometimes later).

Not the first time I’ve had trouble sleeping, but as best as I remember, it always just seemed to go away after a while.    The trouble with getting stressed about sleeping is it actually makes it harder to sleep, so it’s a bit of a vicious feedback loop.  Anyone out there have any advice on how to overcome insomnia without resorting to drugs and drinking?  I generally find benadryl or alcohol might help me get to sleep, but really just end up making things worse overall.  The real solution is probably to reduce stress in my life, but it’s kind of hard with job uncertainty, and the Hope and Change job market weighing heavily on my mind.

Helped my dad move into his new house today near Reading, PA.  It’s a nice area, and a nice house.  Plenty of room in the basement for a decent air gun range.  I miss having a basement.  My current house sort of has one, but it’s small and finished.  I won’t buy another house without one.  There’s an air gun silhouette match tomorrow morning.  Hopefully I’ll be able to drag myself out of bed in time.

Bitter reports that Wal-Mart is making virtual clones of the famous Girl Scout Cookies.  Not really believing this, we went out to Wal-Mart to seek out their versions of Thin Mints and Tagalongs.  I have to admit, it’s an accurate and yummy facsimile.  Needless to say, Girl Scout moms are furious, as they believe Wal-Mart is stealing from that organization.  Personally, I just like the cookies, and if the Girl Scouts want me to have sympathy for them, they can start by coming into the 1990s with women’s rights, and letting the girls earn marksmanship badges like the Boy Scouts.  Hey, I’m all about equality.  In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the cheap and yummy knockoff cookies.

Too much to do this weekend.  There’s a high-power match at the club tomorrow, so I had to pull the Garand and the AR out of mothballs.  I haven’t shot anything more than .22LR since May, and it showed in my shooting.  On the bench I was pleased with how my Garand loads shot.  Nice groups.  Same with my 6.8SPC load that I never got around to testing.  I’m going to shoot the 6.8 tomorrow, largely because it’s one caliber I have enough cartridges already loaded that I don’t have to spend all night loading up .223 rounnds.

On top of that, I also have to get my new workstation, which I will also use to run the blog, prepped and ready.  X-Plane is working fine.  I copied over MythTV from the old box, but still have to make that work.  Then after I’m confident the system is good, transfer all the blogs and web sites I’m hosting for various people over to the new system.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a Philly blogger meet, at 1PM.  It’s going to be cutting to close with my match.  Hopefully we’ll have everything wrapped up by noon.  If not, Bitter will have to head over there on her own, and I’ll join up when I’m finished with the match.

Follow up to the post from earlier.

I had to go to Princeton, NJ to find it. On the way back, the evil the Exit 4 Trippel emitted did not cause me to swerve between lanes. Really odd. After drinking the whole bottle, I feel a mild buzz, but strangely do not feel the need to hop in my car and go terrorize the New Jersey Turnpike. No, I think I’ll stay here and chill on my patio.

I thought for sure this strange potion would have some kind of spell on me, Demon Belgian Ale apparently being a common intoxicant of drunk drivers.  The neo-prohibitionists at MADD can now officially bite me.