OMG-sockets... 'nuff said!

a lawsuit waiting to happen ;)

Back in 2003/2004 I ran a little series of comics about the Matchbox Men on Vomic.com (now vomic.hatetank.dk)
One of the first images was this one :



- today I was shown this cute tee-shirt design
I can't help but wonder where he got the inspiration ;)

Tattoo project, part 1

I've had a tattoo project planned for quite some time now, and yesterday I finally got started on it. First part was a cover up of an older tattoo which was rather poorly made about 16 years ago or so. It was a big tribal thingy - not the easiest to cover up I recon. But thanks to Helle at Alletiders Tattovering in Copenhagen, there's no trace of the original tattoo anymore.
The cover up was not as such part of the tattoo project itself, but I didn't want the old one in combination with what I have planned. So I gave Helle absolutely free hands to cover it up, only it had to be somewhat in theme with the rest I have planned.

Here are a few pictures of the cover up:


- outlining begins.


- outlining done.


- shadows and detail done.


- final result, and the old one next to it. Nice!

And a little sneak peak on the outline for par 2 of the project (there are MANY parts planned):

- Forbidden Evil album cover.

Whaddayaknow - even more new toys...

Last weekend, I installed ProTools with the little 2-track Mbox. It is Mike's old rig, and we used it up untill a month ago or so when we were practicing with the band. But Mike has bought a 16 track Mbox in order to be able to split out the drums on more tracks. All good, and the new rig is sweet. But more important - me having a similar (but smaller) rig means that since we're recording our practice session, I can bring it all home on a USB-key, and work with it here at home, which is absolutely brilliant. It's like practicing in a recording studio, and then continuing in a smaller studio at home. I can now replace my guitar tracks and edit the music as I see fit here at home, when it suits me. How fab is that?
- I guess it's because of technology like this becoming more "publicly available and affordable" that more and more professional recording studios are having a hard time - after all, we're using the same tools the studios are.

It was no easy task installing software and hardware.Oh no. The Mbox is an external soundcard, connected through USB og firewire I believe - and it IS a little more advanced than the Line6 Guitar Port which I'm also running (on another computer), but oh my god the ProTools is being picky about PC-systems...
First I tried to install it on my little MSI Wind laptop - no luck. I got what appeared to be some kind of buffer error, and there was no way to adjust my way out of it within ProTools. So I tried instaling it on my work machine here at home - which is an old, but powerfull machine which should be more than capable of running ProTools. But I had the same problems on this machine as on the laptop. So I started reading forums and stuff, and found that many other users were experiencing the same problems. And the solution was a rather lenghty optimization guide for Windows XP, created by the good ProTools developers. The guide included some pretty standard stuff like uninstalling useless applications and software, defragmenting the harddrive(s) and harmless stuff like that. But also tampering with firewall, antivirus, various system services and disabling network etc. But worst of all - tampering with the BIOS. Not really an option for me, when I also have to use the computer for work and games and of course ze interwebs...
- luckily I have an older machine, and I ended up installing the rig on this machine, and go through parts of the optimization guide, and luckily I got it working without having to tamper with tje BIOS and other vital system stuff.
- but I DO think it is a little harsh having to go through such a process. But then again - it IS a piece of professional equipment and software, and you'd usually buy dedicated systems for something like this.

But I got it working, and that all that matters :)

More new toys...

Well - Blackie obviously needed a wireless network, so today I actually bought an Apple product - no not a green/red chewy thingy - but a white Airport Express... because wireless access points are just so goddamn hideous. It was nice and easy to set up - took me less than ten minutes and it works like a charm. Wonderful.
I also got me a wireless phone for my stationary line. How very modern...

New toy :)

Meet Blackie :)



- ain't she cute? It's a MSI wind - very portable. 10" screen, 1gb ram, Intel atom 1.6 Ghz processor and 120Gb HD. Weighs no more than a kilo. And it runs Quake3 hehe.
I'm gonna try at some point to get my music-setup running on it - maybe I'm lucky and even ProTools will run on it. That'd be sweet.
Right now I'm just really pleased to have a laptop, and not be tied to the desktop pc's in my office.

- other nice features include Wifi, Bluetooth, Card reader, built-in webcam and loads more. Runs Win XP and so far it's been a pleasure.

Noticed something different?

Thats right. The appartment for sale ad is gone. What could this possibly mean? Well - we (that is Liv and I) have sold our appartment, which means that hopefully our individual financial situations will start to improve. When your entire salory has been going to pay rent in two appartments... for more than half a year, you're pretty much left with something the LHC has not yet been able to provide - a black hole... a money-sucking black hole.

We're both happy to not have this extra expense, even though we had to cut a little chunk of the price - and we're very happy on behalf of the new buyers (whom we know personally) - and hope they'll grow to love the appartment like we did. Congratulations to the both of you :)

- it IS however also a bit sad. Even though it is more than a year ago we split up, and even though we've both moved on and managed to stay good friends still - it feels a bit weird. So definitive. Hard to explain in words - but hey, the money issue which will no longer be an issue kinda steals the focus ;)

Things NOT to think about in an airplane...

After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe
sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The
mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and
then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it
be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots
(marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by
maintenance engineers.

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had
an accident.


P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to: straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget
pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.


- I don't wan't to board a plane, sit back and think that the service crew has a sense of humor like this. But it's cool as long as I have both feet on the ground ;)

*thanks to Niels Tybjerg for this one

Agurketid...

Mjaeeh - jeg får ikke lige posted afsindigt meget... Så her er lige et par fede udenlandske musikvideoer, med tekstning - for JERES skyld, kære gæster.

Falafsangen


Oldemor


Kold Bims


AI AI AI (NU bli'r det fjollet)


- så får i ikke mere for den 25-øre.

Opfordring til DR

Når nu i er så hårdt ramt af nedskæringer i forbindelse med jeres uhørt skandaløse byggeprojekt, og når nu i har valgt at sende regningen videre til os på den anden side af skærmen, i form af en udvandet programflade med utallige genudsendelser - kunne i så ikke genudsende de fede ting istedet? Eksempelvis "Crash - truslen fra det sorte hul" eller verdens bedste julekalender :
Jul og grønne skove


Og hvad med Vitek?


- for ikke at nævne Mellem himmel og Jord, Flid, fedt eller snyd, Dus med dyrene og ZigZag - for blot at nævne nogle stykker...

Giv mig min TV-ungdom tilbage, røvhuller! Gi' mig noget for mine licenspenge, lapsede lusepustere! Jeg kan IKKE spises af med udvalgte klip på Bonanza i ussel billed-og lydkvalitet! Røvsnaps!

Why oh WHY...

...is it, that when I'm just about ready to take 2 weeks vacation - I get ill? In July I started coughing monday just before my vacation. And surprise surprise - this monday I started coughing again - just as I'm about to take two weeks vacation from next week.
Last time I almost OD'ed on chamomille tea, trying to battle the illness. Girls drink chamomille tea, gods dammit!

Oh yeah - and on top of that, I woke up at 6.30 this morning with a &"!#&%&#¤ cramp in my leg.
Frakk it!!

Dissektion - a short by Anders Nydam

Just thought I'd help promote the latest work by a very talented friend of mine, Anders.
It's a somewhat disturbing, yet incredibly intriguing short with some very nice visuals.



check it out here, or download
DISSEKTION (Hi res):
http://agony.dk/dissektion/dissektion-hires.mp4
Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 1050x576 25.00fps
Audio: AAC 44100Hz stereo 1411Kbps
Size: 446mb

*©2008 all rights reserved, Anders Nydam - agony.dk

Some people just want to see the world burn...

I saw Batman:Dark Knight today. Mighty entertaining, I must admit. I thought Heath Ledger did a brilliant job as the Joker, but I'm not sure it warrants his recent posthumous oscar nomination. But he did good - no doubt about that. It was a strong heritage to take over from Jack Nicholson. I also liked the effects on TwoFace. Much more in-your-face (no pun intended) and brutal than when Tommy Lee Jones played him. Pity he only got so little "funtime". The action was good, and the movie didn't strike me as being over-american, although a few clichés did sneak in here and there.
I do however dislike that Batman has to speak in such a stupid dark/distorted voice whenever he is Batman - but I guess he needs something to keep people from guessing his identity - much like when Clark Kent removes his glasses and becomes superman, and obviously fools everyone.
I also missed Tim Burton's more fictituous, and true-to-the-comics rendition of Gotham City.
But I DO like that it is clearly aimed at an older audience, and as such more dark and sinister.
All in all a recommendable movie.

You're NOT 20 anymore, Jensen...

Yesterday I wen't to a local venue called "Train", to see old school Bay Area Thrashers, Exodus, supported by "The Burning" and "Three inches of blood". I've recently rediscovered Exodus - I was very much into "Fabulous Disaster" and "Impact is Imminent", but these albums go many years back and I haven't really heard much of them, untill I was exposed to the third last album "Tempo of the Damned" which is fab. And also the last one with the old singer. Then came "Shovel headed kill machine" which was not as good in my oppinion, because it felt like the new singer had not settled in yet. But he sure has on the latest, called "Atrocity Exhibition".
So anyways - with a first release in 1984, Exodus has somewhat of a back catalogue, and yesterdays set was an excellent mix of old, new and everything in between. Highlight of the evening was surely when the played "War is my shepherd", from "Tempo...." which is a great track. The sound on Train was not the best, unfortunately, but maybe I'm just coloured from an open-air Iron Maiden concert with excellent sound.

I went together with Mike and Andersen, and later on teamed up with my colleague, Chekov and some of his friends, as well as Adam, the apprentice at my former work place. And we were rockin' a bit through the first few exodus tracks - untill we slowly but surely got sucked into the mosh pit, and just started going completely ape shit. With the result that my neck has been stiff as if a viagra was stuck in it, and naturally a little bit hungover because one or two beers just wasn't enough. And then of course battered and bruised from being tossed around in the mosh pit.
- but it was awesome. I haven't rocked out this much for ten years or so. It was well worth it. Besides - the good thing about regrets is that they always appear after - never during ;)

Maybe I should go see Vader, Illdisposed, Headbangers Ball and Volbeat during autumn?

[Concert] Singalong for 12.000 people

- Iron Maiden "Somewhere back in time tour" live in Horsens, Denmark, july 27th 2008

I saw Iron Maiden live for the first time in november 2006, but I've been listening to their music for more than 20 years now, I think. In fact, Iron Maiden was one of the first metal bands I was ever introduced to. So obviously the concert in november 2006 was highly anticipated. And I thought it was really good. It wasn't what I had expected, because they chose to play the entire new album, "A matter of life and death", which is brilliant - but not quite what I was expecting for my first Maiden concert. I (and most of the other 7999 people) surely wanted a bit more nostalgia...

- which brings us to yesterday. The scene was a freight yard in Horsens (a neighbouring town to where I live), the sun was shining from a clear blue sky, the beers were cold and numerous, and the place was packed with about 12.000 Iron Maiden fans - young and old. Somewhat ideal settings I'd say. And with the tour title "Somewhere back in time", you just knew you'd get nostalgia for every penny.

But first, like the Maiden concert in nov. 2006, we had to endure a (thankfully) short set from Maiden bass player, Steve Harris' daugher, Lauren Harris. Now I'm sure old man Harris is proud, and he should be - it must be nice when your daughter defies an otherwise male dominated genre and still manage to get somewhere. But for me, the music was a bit too naive... like some of the bands that played in youth clubs when I started playing metal myself. They played well, and it looked as if the crowd in the "pit" enjoyed it. But she just didn't reach the back - or my musical gland.

Far better was the second supporting act, Avenged Sevenfold, who served a mix of thrash, power metal, heavy metal tossed together with a bit of NU-metal vocals. Brilliant musicians too. Especially the power riff in the track "Almost Easy" (I think it was called) caught my ears and attention. They did really good, paid homage to Pantera and Dimebag Darrel, as well as their respect to Iron Maiden and crew, for taking them along on this part of the tour. Bit of humour tossed in there as well, and they did a great job of lifting the atmosphere before the main act.

At about 9.20pm, the last rays of sun graced the top of the stage, and slowly started to loosen it's grip on the freight yard in Horsens, where everyone was psyched as Churchill's Speach kicked of the show, followed by Aces High. From then on, the place was boiling for the almost 2 hours Maiden entertained us. And you really must hand it to them. They're not just musicians. They're not just a band. They're entertainers, showmen - and absolutely brilliant ones at that. Although a "small" stage, they filled it out really well, and the show was packed with Iron Maiden relics, backdrops and props - as well as main man, Bruce Dickinson, changing outfits now and then, to tie everything together in tracks like "The Trooper", "Rime of the ancient mariner" and more. See that's just it with Iron Maiden. They're not just prancing around on stage being rockstars - they're telling stories. Stories of ancient times, mystery, bravery and heroism. Just like true heavy metal should be. And they played fantastic. If I have to put a finger on something (because it all just can't be peaches and gravy), I'd say that Dickinson's voice did cut out now and then - it might have been technical issues, it might be because he was running across the stage like a madman, trying to maintain some degree of microphone control at the same time - I don't know. But he was heard clearly whereever it mattered the most, so I am really nitpicking here. Of course he could also just put it even more in the hands of the audience, who on several occasions proved they were true Maiden fans, by singing backup whenever Dickinson requested it - or when it is customary to do so - like the intro to "Fear of the Dark", which sounded just about when the sun finally dove under the horizon...

16 tracks (which in my book is close to 2 albums) was what we got served in Horsens on that perfect summer evening. And they were each served with an elegance and conviction that Metallica could learn something from. Although I like Metallica's old music more than Iron Maiden, they just don't deliver it live as well as Maiden do. So Lars, Hetfield, Kirk, and Robert - go catch Iron Maiden on tour - pick up a trick or two...


The set was as follows :
Churchill's Speach (intro)
Aces High
Two Minutes To Midnight
Revelations
The Trooper
Wasted Years
(666) Number Of The Beast
Can I Play With Madness
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Powerslave
Heaven Can Wait
Run To The Hills
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden

Ekstras:
Moonchild
The Clarivoyant
Hallowed Be Thy Name

- and what a perfect way to end the show. Hallowed... is an all time favourite. Brilliant!


- The Trooper


- (probably) Wasted Years


- Rime of the ancient Mariner (FAB!)
*apologies for the crappy mobile phone pics...

Rating :

"We're Iron Maideeeeeeeen"...

- need I say more? It's gonna ROCK!! ;)

R O C K ! ! ! !

*edit* - and it did (see above)

*OOOUUUUCH* - No touchy.... NO TOUCHY!!

I'm home again. Slightly redder than before I left. No actually I'm incredibly red, burning, and in agonizing pain... So when you see me - no padding on the shoulder, unless you want to be picking up your front teeth from the sidewalk, mhhkay? ;)

Oh yeah - and my phone died on me. Completely. Good thing I have my backup... So I'm also back in that department.

My tent was also a little bit too small for me. I guess when the info says "2 persons", they really mean 2 persons of less height than 170cm or 1 person of no more than 180 cm. It is a good festival tent, I reckon. Comes in a bag, and when you upen the bag, you unleash raw, compressed unfolding powers. It simply goes *POOOOF* and there's a tent. Add 6 tent pegs, and you're done.
- so if you're going on a festival or something, come by and pick up a spare tent. I'm gonna look for a bigger one.

And a guy on the lot next to ours was snorring like a big, fat bear...

But apart from all that, I really enjoyed the 2 days at my parents' camp site - despite their usual bickering ;)

...and I just cleaned the house...

It was great fun though - thanks to all who showed up... FOR RUINING MY HOME!!
- just kidding of course - next time will be my birthday around late august/early september. X marks the spot - put it in the calendar ;)

*edit* And to whoever brought the roof tile to my appartment and left it there for me to find at 5am, drunk and on my way to bed - that's just sick! Roof tiles go on the OUTSIDE - don't make me nervous like that again. I actually had to check the roof for missing tiles, when I went down with the garbage today...

SICK, I tells ya! :D

*edit 2* Ok, who ate my 2 incredibly pathetic discount burgers, which I had saved for tonight? That's just mean. I hope your conscience is black as night. You've forced me to go out for food... again... You just don't eat another persons hangover meal. Shame, shame on you...

*edit 3 (only 3 years later)* - so the roof tile has finally been refitted, after 3 years of pigeons inside the roof, and wall to wall pigeon shit outside my window :D

3D::Project - Creative Gigaworks T40

I've had a little private project going during my summer holidays. My PC-speakers - Creative Labs Gigaworks T40. A test in studio light setup with Vray, as well as materials. The modelling itself was done with spline- and box-modelling primarily. Some Vray displacement has been used as well.
A bit of post work, and there it is...


I'll put this model up for sale on TurboSquid and The3dStudio when it's 100% final.

*edit*
More renders and wireframes...

Rear - showing the connection details:


Top - showing the vent:


Wires:






- this has been great fun, good practice, and the result, I think, speaks for itself.

You can buy this model on The3Dstudio

ahhh - holidays at last...

Yup - 17 days of pure freedom. I'm gonna use it to go see Iron Maiden live and open air, see old friends, throw a party, maybe camp for a few days with my parents at their camp site up north, play music, work out a lot, go biking, idle, watch movies, play games... it's gonna be great.

- but first I need to shake this &%!%¤#&% illness in my throat. Honestly... who the heck gets sick with an ilness frequent to the winter period during summer? This is just ridiculous.

Personalized credit card my ass... (part 2)

After much ado about my request for a personlized credit card, I finally got it. No hint about if it had been approved or not (although I suspected it had passed since I did not get a rejection mail) - it only said that IF it had been approved, I would receive my new card soon.
And it arrived yesterday - colour profile wrong (too much contrast), and placement slightly off, so there's a little stripe of white at the bottom. And obviously it is NOT my first choice motif. Still better than the default though, so I am partially satisfied. But that's just not GOOD enough, when I wanted to be ECSTATIC!

- hopefully I've stirred up enough fuzz, for them to have another look at their "rules", or at least be more specific about what you can and can't submit.

Farewell, Thomas Winding

If my childhood was to have had a narrator, the voice would have belonged to Thomas Winding.
The author, director, narrator (and more) died today 71 years old.

I doubt I will ever forget his deep, calm voice - especially because it was pretty much associated with 80% of all tv-entertainment for kids when I was little. It had that sound or depth or harmony, that would make you listen. Like REALLY listen. He could probably be reading knitting diagrams or pastry recipies, and you'd still listen.

It's odd how a voice can have such an impact, but perhaps you're more easily affected by the impressions you meet when you're a child? I don't know. But I will miss that voice.




Rest in peace.

National (aqua)bomb championships

Today me and a bunch of my colleagues went to see the Danish Championship in (aqua)bomb. It was a hoot - except for the fact that it was scorching hot on the stands and I finished the only beer I brought, about 2 minutes after sitting down.
But those guys were beyond mad. I believe that at least one of them had an agonizing look on his face, when he surfaced after a jump. But I guess that's only fair, when you hit the surface with your ass first, from the 10 meter platform where most of the jumps took place from.

Anyways - here's a few (mediocre) pictures from the event. They really don't do the event justice. The volume of the splashes were half the experience.


- impact...


- good splash. Great height.


- impact...


- nice "wings". Looks almost like a swan.


- yes he rode it ALL the way down.


- tripple action...


- yes, curl up like a porcupine - good plan.


- nice overall volume.


SPLASH!!

Great fun overall - and especially the german guests were out of their heads.
Check out some videos and keep track on upcoming events here.

Personalized credit card my ass...

So my credit card is due for a replacement, given that the magnetic stripe has been cut in half 40% through the card, and the chip is developing a personality as well. Not to mention the fact that the card more ore less is shaped like the profile of a banana.
My bank offers the option to get a personalized card - woohoo, I thought - just the thing for a graphics artist like myself.
Obviously there are some understandable restrictions - like if there's people on the image you submit, they have to approve, and you can't use other peoples copyrighted material, and no profanity and obscene stuff. All good. So I start preparing some of my best graphics, submit it and get excited about how cool it will be when I use my new card publicly, that there's a big, green fly with a rotary engine from a plane on it. The next day I get an email saying it has been rejected. So I call the bank, and ask them why, and get the answer that it looked like some kind of professional product shot (/me takes a bow). I then explain that it is done entirely by me, and this is what I do for a living (although rarely flies with engines are involved). They say ok - we'll just send you a form to fill out, where you can state that you're the legal copyright holder of the work. Form arrives, I sign and return it, excitement level rises again. 2 days later, another rejection mail. I call the bank, and now all of a sudden they do not accept anything that has been made on the computer. WTF?!
In the following days, I send various scanned photos that get rejected as well for various (stupid) reasons. My last attempt is a picture of the sunset taken from Hume Highway in Australia 2000, which IS pretty, but I wanted COOL.
So personalized card, MY ASS!! Sure I was at Hume Highway, but so was probably 1000 people, and so is probably a 1000 people every single day. It doesn't get more personalized than a piece of graphics you did yourself, does it? It is obviously less acceptable, just because it wasn't done by an infant with greasy fingers and head-to-toe veggie mash covering and presented to the overly joyfull parent.
Stupid, stupid, stupid...

- and in the meantime I have to listen to "Looks like you need a new card, mister" every other day... O RLY??!?

State of the world...

...well MY world anyways.
It's been a bit dead on the blog lately (if you hadn't already noticed). It's not that nothing happens - I've just been too tied up in other projects.
I don't remember if I have mentioned it earlier, but I've started playing music again *yay*. It kicked into gear when I decided to buy a Line 6 Guitar Port with recording software called "Riffworks". Now I already owned a Line 6 Pocket POD, but unfortunately there was way too much latency if I tried to use it to play through the computer, and besides I still lacked some proper recording software, so I never really got around to it, untill I got the Guitar Port. And even more when I got back the Dean. With the active EMG-81 pickup it really kicks ass, and I've recorded about 9 new tracks within the last 3-4 months or so. Well - actually one of the tracks is the last song I originally wrote for Frozen Sun, but it never really got played and the band split up not long after I left - so I still claim ovnership of the song.
Anyways - I've also teamed up with Mike (drums), whom I played with back in the good old days before Frozen Sun - when we were Hosts of Chaos (among many other interresting names). Currently we're rehearsing once a week - but will kick it up a bit during the summer - and we're gonna need it, going through the catalogue of tracks I've established over the past few months.
The procedure is: I make a "rough" track with some standard drums and dubbed guitars in Riffworks, present it to Mike, and we then work through it adding more taylor-made drums and finetuning the structure and various bits and pieces. And within 2-3 sessions we have a good base track. Still no bass or vocals and I'm really excited about what it will turn out like when everything is more finalized. But it's a new, exciting and very appealing workflow - and it really suits the both of us, having full-time jobs and other activities. There's not much mucking about - and since the tracks are about 75% done in terms of guitar and drums when we start working on them together, we can just focus all our ressources on nailing the last 25%.
I've presented some of the tracks to a few of my friends and colleagues and recived really great feedback - but of course the real treat will be when we make it more publicly available - trough myspace and/or mymusic. But that's not yet, so be patient.
- so now you know what's keeping me busy - apart from work, excercise and the occasional bender ;)

Once I get the funds, I'll definetely have to get me a (mac)laptop for recording, along with ProTools and perhaps a little mixer. But that's in the future. I've already spent more than enough.

Life is good - in Esbenland

*brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

Beautiful or ugly...ful

- I think it's gorgeous.

My baby is back

- no, I have not found a basket with a mysterious love child at my door step.
I'm talking about my good old Dean guitar from the Frozen Sun days. The guitar I played when we recorded our debut CD. The guitar I played on our last couple of gigs. Meeeemorieeeees....
After 8 years or so, she's in my possession again. Took some shining up by the good folks at Akustikken, but they did a great (and relatively cheap) job, and it's fantastic to play it again. Much, much easier than the Brownsville I've been playing for the last many months.

It has a nice and crisp sound, and hardly any noise as opposed to the Brownsville.
A small bonus is the fact that I now have 2 guitars at my disposal, which gives a much more varied sound when I'm recording dual guitar tracks at home.

- apologies for the crummy picture by the way, but it's a picture, René - I promised nothing more...

Jeez - lighten up...

I like to mess with people occasionally, and Facebook has proven to be as good a place as any. More specifically the application called "Social Me".
Basically you get to "tag" other people with a set of predefined labels, or create your own. And you can attach an image and a little description to your Social Me profile. Currently, this is me :

PUNY HUMANS!!
Nick, 36 / male
Graaaboch Prime

About Me:
I will destroy you all!

Who I'd like to meet:
A female earthling, who in return will be spared the obliteration in store for this pathetic planet.


- not really something to be taken serious, right? Well apparently someone do. Yes there IS in fact places on this very earth where people with absolutely no sense of humor reside.

Just a few minutes after updating my profile to the above, some silly brat tagged me with this little nugget : "freak-nd-pathetic". Obviously I couldn't let this slide, so I wrote a little note to her, on the Social Me mail system... here's a transcript of the following communication :

Me (Alien Overlord) :

Inferior human!

You have been sentenced to work in the dark mines of Nylaarrfn for a period of no less than five billion years.

Her (Primate of less importance) :

RE:Inferior human!

yr freak grow up nd act yr age nt yr shoesize!!

Me :

RE:Inferior human!

SILENCE! Superior lifeforms have no need for pathetic footwear. Puny human with footwear obsession, should learn how to properly operate a computer input device, instead of argueing with those of a superior intelligence.

Her :

RE:Inferior human!

u finko OH ND GET A RAZOR U NUT CASE

Her (again) :

RE:Inferior human!

ND I WONT BE SILENT 4 BIG HEADED FREAKS LIK U!!!!!

Me :

RE:Inferior human!

Female earthling seems aggrevated. Apparently concepts like humor and irony are wasted on humans. Pity.

Her :

RE:Inferior human!

sado go bck 2 planet zork u dork fuck off

Me :

RE:Inferior human!

Foul language and profanity will not be tolerated under the new earth administration. Disobedient primates will be sent to correctional facilities upon our arrival.

---------------------
- end of transcript. I guess she finally accepted her pityfull fate.
(Cue ominous music and laughter)...


*edit* - By popular demand - here's another one.
She didn't have a tantrum like the above one and somewhat tried to play along it seems. Nevertheless here's my response to her tagging me as "Ridiculous":

Me :

I am superior!

My race will eat insubordinate humans for afternoon snacks! Be warned inferior being!

Her :

RE:I am superior!

naturally...

Me :

RE:I am superior!

Good good. You seem to have come to your senses. There is hope for you after all...

Her :

RE:I am superior!

I already am THE superior race, so you must obey me...

Me :

RE:I am superior!

Lies! You obviously lack the clearly visible mental gland common in highly evolved species. Your head is still covered with primate remains.

Her :

RE:I am superior!

you keep thinking that

Me :

RE:I am superior!

SILENCE!! Thinking is but another primate remain. We, the omnipotent, fold time and space with our mental glands. In comparison, the biggest human mental achievement, is the folding of cutlery. Trivial, mundane and a typical human display of lacking visions.

---------------------
- end of transcript. Fun fun fun :D

Stickers on fruit...

- what's up with that? Don't you just hate it? I mean, who got the "brilliant" idea to label fruit individually? Ok I don't mind so much if you have to peel it first, because the fruit is not in contact with the edible parts. But apples? Who thought "Gosh - I better put stickers on these GRANNY SMITH apples, in case some of them elopes to the box with COX ORANGE". Or even worse as it has been my case at work lately : the plums. Seriously. Plums. But why? WHY? It was so bad on one occasion that the sticker actually tore of part of the skin, upon removal. Is it not bad enough that you have to scrub your fruit to get rid of other peoples germs first? Apparently not. You ALSO have to steam the stickers first, and remove the remaining glue with alcohol, to ensure a "safe" and healthy snack.

- and then you bite down, split it, and find out that someone lives inside the plum. What a waste of time...

The whole shebang is just ludicrous. An apple is NOT an egg. I can understand the need to stamp eggs individually - that in case of illness you can trace the chicken and have it removed before it infects the others. But you're not gonna trace down a specific tree, and that's clearly not what the labels on fruit is for anyways. An apple is just empty advertising space, and empty advertising space makes baby jesus cry... So there.

Yet another ¤#/%¤/#¤% squatter...

- well he IS big enough to pay rent (about 5-6cm).

I call him "Lars".

Goddamn squatters!

A bunch of squatters have taken residence under the roof/ledge, shielding one of my windows. Soon I'll have their (probably pierced, tattooed and skanky) kids making a racket. Sheeeesh, I say!

Drunk bastard...

I just saw in the news today, that a russian ship ran on ground somewhere in Denmark. Skipper was drunk - very drunk. And the ship had permission to carry nuclear waste. Nice. Fortunately it was empty, but how the fuck does a whino get put in charge of a nuclear waste carrying vessel?
Oh yeah - the chief engineer was drunk as a skunk as well. Stupid assholes should go sit on a fuel rod.

Vintage cars - may 2008

Spring is here, which means trips to Kaløvig, to gaze upon the lovely cars of ye olden days.
Yesterday was my first trip this season, and with me I had my colleagues Chekov and Jaco. It started out a bit weak - there was about 6 cars when we got there, but we grabbed a bite, and all of a sudden the place was packed.


- packed, I tells you...


- a pretty Mercedes.


- Ford based(?) pick-up rod? Loved the minimalistic feel.


- a Plymouth looking slightly angry.


- Ford Mustang's are a sure hit. Especially as cabrio. Classy, yet raw and brutal.


- Chekov is attacked by a huuuuge M.A.N. (ex)military truck.


- a Ford, I believe, with folding roof. Nice!


- Chevy Impala arriving.


- Old Ford Anglia. Sweet. Big hot rod potential here.


- Radically slammed Porsche Speedster. It was so low, I bet it was green on the underside when it left...


- Nice beamer! Gotta love the little BMW Isetta cabin scooters.
It was even parked next to the orange Reliant Robin, so you'd have the 2 three-wheelers next to eachother - one with the single wheel in front and one with the single wheel at the back. Cute.


- classic Rat Rod, with some pretty cool pin-striping.


- Opel Rekord coupé.


- RAAAWRRR!! The Mercury Cougar has one of the best fronts. See if you can spot the parts that turn and reveal the headlights.


- we got to try on a Citroen CX for size. It is a flagship. The seats were more comfortable than most recliners I've ever sat in.


- and inside the CX it was Starship Enterprise.... anno 1960. Citroen had some strange ideas - visionary, but strange.


- Camaro SS


- K.I.T.T. decided to show up without the 'Hoff.


Alfa Romeo arriving.


- absolutely stunning BMW.


- pitch black and wicked Chevy pickup arriving.


- not much of a motorcycle freak myself, this one however does deserve a mention. It's a Suzuki Intruder - with 1800cc engine. That's more engine than most average european cars are born with. Intruder - no shit.


These were just a few of the nice cars this time. Hopefully next time we'll stay a little longer, and bring barbecue and chairs for a cozy evening in the roar and smell of automotive history.