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Paul's Journal

paul
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02/19/2007 21:36 #38213

Quick Overview of the Weekend
Category: holiday
Most of this weekend generally sucked. I spent a long time programming stuff that should take very little time, if I had the proper tools, a quick dual processor machine with lots of ram and a fast internet connection. The thing about being a web programmer that sucks is not the development but the incessant testing in diverse systems. If if you follow the prescribed way of writing client side code, there is no guarantee that any display mechanism(browser) is going to respect the rules. Thus I spent a million hours testing. My vaio s360 linux system is just not cutting it. The system just doen't have enough computing power.

I want a powerbook that does mac, linux, and PC all in one with 3 GBs of RAM. One of my co-workers has this setup. It seems like the dream development platform for web designer. It would have the possibility of saving me hundreds of hours in testing.

It looks like I might need to settle for a mac mini at this point and just give up on having a powerful laptop.

I am tired of snow but not too tired, like if I had a better computer, I would probably enjoy the snow.
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Oh teds dogs. We go every time (e:mrdeadlier) and (e:enknot) 's friend comes to town. Notice the neutrino in the background there.

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Remember my infrared pics, I swear I caught a ghost on one downtown by Lafayette square.

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Here is some of the decoration from inside the building.
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On Saturday I went to my little cousins' birthday party. (e:mike) got so excited so many times, you would think it was his birthday.
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Mikeosaurus with the dinosaur head
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(e:matthew) and his swan hat
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The kids got their own SUV.
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My cousin jennifer is a balloon clown. Well not really but when she was a kid she learned how to tie balloon animals and we had a lot of fun playing with them.
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My little cousin got a million action figures and toys, even some historic ones like this death star.
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The mice had some food to eat in the attic. They got in the tortoise hay seed. Actually, there are no mice anymore, but cleaning up after them was fun. It is nice to have them gone.
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I also cleaned the kitchen which involved washing out the entire fridge. I can't believe how disgusting some of the things were.
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This was in the tray under the fridge. The mice had used it as a birdbath. I not only cleaned it all out, I also fille dit with salt so that if they ever come back they will get no water there. What the fuck is it?

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paul - 02/20/07 22:12
The thing in the last picture is by far the most disgusting thing I ever touched. I am not sure what it was. It was definitely, thoroughly decomposing, although t did not really smell. I have looked at the picture so much trying to figure out what it was. Matt seems pretty convinced it was some bit of roting mouse.
lilho - 02/20/07 14:43
what the fuck is the last picture of? im officially grossed out. are you going out for mardi gras?

02/14/2007 20:36 #38158

Some Videos
Category: video
Please check my last journal about mini pet pigs if you know anyone who has one, I want to visit one.

Here are some random videos from my camera that didn't come out on my other journal. I know this is cruel and inhumane but these fucking bugs came out of a couscous box. I hate when bugs ruin food. What the fuck are they. I often find them in couscous, even sealed bags of couscous.

::Download Flash Video::



These cute snow squirrels are the ones that live in our attic. They are out playing.

::Download Flash Video::



This is a video from that white out day. It is hard to tell just how severe it is because the camera can focus in the whiteout better than our eyes.

::Download Flash Video::



This picture was taken with an infrared filter made of old blank developed film. I can't tell if it worked or not, but it looks neat.
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The snow was so everywhere this morning, thank god I only have a 3-6 minute jog to work.
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Okay these are taken from a special myspace snow angle, but still it was deep.
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libertad - 02/17/07 17:42
haha what is a myspace angle? and why do you keep eating couscous? that's so gross. The squirrel is so huge what do you feed them?
mrdeadlier - 02/15/07 09:23
Stomp that bug!!

02/14/2007 19:22 #38156

Piggy
Category: pets
I am allergic to cats and dogs but (e:matthew) wants a cute snuggly that he can play with. Seeing as chinese children are too expensive, the pig seems like the next best option.

Does anyone know anyone with a mini pig, I kind of want to visit one first. I want to get the smallest kind possible if I got one as I can't imagine arguing with a stubborn 150lb pig.

These are just babies but they are so cute.
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metalpeter - 02/14/07 19:57
What ever animal you get you really have to reserach it well. I don't think a pig is something that you can snugle with. I wonder if there are any big furry animals that you arn't allergic to. In any event I wish you guys luck in finding a new pet. If I could have any pet it would be a tiger cub, but only one problem they arn't so great once they get past cub stage not to mention they are more expensive to feed then a person and are verry dangerous and they make verry bad pets. But if there was a way that they wouldn't grow past a certain size, it would be preaty good.
lilho - 02/14/07 19:56
i am full support of pigs as pets for you.

02/13/2007 20:38 #38137

Gay Bars On Allen
Category: allentown
I was reading outcomebuffalo the other day. I don't know why I bother because the news there is always so totally freakin' outdated. They might as well call it outdatedbuffalo.com

Check this out, here we are on February 13th and the "Breaking News" is an article from December 5th.

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It seems like there should be more to talk about in a city as gay as Buffalo. One article about the gay bars on Allen being too loud for the neighbors is quite interesting.

Cathode Ray is saying that it is discrimination and that the people living around the bar just want to shut it down because it is a gay bar. Now I am going out on a limb here because I don't know the whole situation, but I bet it is more because it is loud and there are lots of people on the patio.

On the other hand, the stupid idiots that bought houses right by Allen, knew they were moving into a loud city street in the middle of the gaybarhood.

From the article

The owner of Cathode Ray stands by his accusations of gay bashing by certain residents of North Pearl Street, but police officials say that in "mixed use" neighborhoods like Allentown, made up of both residential homes and commercial businesses, the issue that emerges is not homophobia, but "quality of life."...

In July, Kym Mosgeller, of North Pearl Street, wrote a letter to Ellicott District Councilmember Brian Davis listing complaints, mostly in regard to noise levels, against three gay bars on Allen Street - Cathode Ray, Adonia's and Q-44 Allen. She attached a petition signed by other neighbors of the street who were unhappy as well.

Afterward, John Little, owner and operator of Cathode Ray, hung posters in his bar under the headline "Gay Bar Bashing" accusing Mosgeller of trying to close the gay patios, "but allowing the straight patios to remain open." He was referring to the patios used by patrons of nearby Mother's and Fat Bob's.



There is simply a huge difference between Mother's, Fat Bob's and Cathode Ray in terms of volume and the attitude of the people. It makes me wonder why are bars so loud. Anytime I go to one, I end up getting a sore throat from screaming the whole time.

I mean it makes sense for a dance club, but Cathode Ray is definitely not a dance club. I wish there was a quieter sit down gay bar that wasn't as posh as Fugazi. Buddies used to kind of be like that but the new one downtown really isn't. I liked how they had two rooms at the old one, the dance area and the actual cheers style bar.

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metalpeter - 02/14/07 18:38
I will openly admit that I have never been to a gay bar for women or men. But i don't really go to bars that often. Not to mention I can admit I would feal weird in one. I think maybe more in a girl bar cause it would be like oh hear is the guy who wants to see us make out (and that would kinda be true). I wonder if the part of Allen the bars are in is a factor. I kinda think that part might be more residentail but not sure. I wonder if it was any bar that was loud in that same spot that wasn't gay if the reaction would be the same. I think that what Josh said is a big factor, that you have people who want to be there for the scene. But only can have it loud on the weekends during the summer months.
jason - 02/14/07 11:48
Josh I have only ever been to Roxy's, and yes it was more perverted than a Cheers-style establishment (the word perverted having nothing to do with gayness itself, just the vivid girl porn star posters on the wall, so please guys just take it easy).
joshua - 02/14/07 10:08
I almost forgot - a gay Cheers-style bar? I have to admit that I think its a cool idea. Six years ago a friend and I mistakenly walked into a dyke bar in Greenwich Village - I swear to you I've never had so many hostile glances. I felt like a Baptist minister at an abortion convention. Needless to say, we left and went next door to the White Horse Tavern - it was an interesting experience.

Anyway, I digress - having never been in a Buffalo gay bar I can't say with any authority, but my impression is that many of the gay bars in Buffalo have a more flamboyant orientation than a bar like Cheers. The neighborhood gay bar Cheers-style - considering the alcoholic nature of our city I don't understand why this hasn't happened yet.
joshua - 02/14/07 10:01
My problems with this issue are manyfold, but I'll highlight two of them.

Firstly, claiming that the neighbors around Cathode Ray are homophobic is absolute horseshit - those bars have been there for a long time and residents of Allentown have always been fully aware of the "mixed usage" of the neighborhood. Claiming homophobia when it isn't warranted cheapens the struggles that gay people have, just like when minorities play the "race card" in the instances where there is no problem.

Secondly, I've known many of the residents of North Pearl Street - the LAST thing that people around Allentown, or Elmwood Village, or even Buffalo in general (Buffalo is a fairly gay-friendly place) are is homophobic.

Thirdly, as an extra bonus, and this is simply my conspiracy theory - the "suburbanization" of our neighborhood is ongoing, and we are constantly having people move down here for the "atmosphere" not really having ever dealt with city life. I could barely sleep because of the noise when I first moved in - now I don't even notice it. I think if anything some posh crybabies are piping up not really having known what they were getting into when they moved into Allentown.
mrmike - 02/13/07 22:14
The timing is interesting. Cathode Ray has been in place for almost 20 years now. The North Pearl gentrifiers are just now noticing there is a bar on the corner? the hell?
jason - 02/13/07 22:08
Interesting observation. To be honest I think the fairest way to approach it is as if it has nothing to do with the bars being gay bars. Is there a history of gay-unfriendly activity in Allentown? I am not aware of anything like that, so why automatically come to that conclusion?

The same issues would come up regardless of the clientele if an establishment was excessively noisy. I agree people should know what they're buying, but as it is a mixed use area the rules governing noise (if any) should probably be enforced more stringently.

02/13/2007 02:35 #38125

So you may ask where I was?
Category: mobile
I have been so busy learning as much as I can about linux and video conversion. Luckily, I have lots of experience with ffmpeg, unfortunately, I could not get it to compile with all the codecs I wanted. Now it is all working and my journal can go back to normal.

I took all these pictures and videos this weekend.

I finally cooked the bacon wrapped filet mignon that (e:hodown) sent me for christmas. I didn't have an oven before.
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It was my mother's birthday this weekend. We went out to left bank for lunch and then bought deserts from Dolci. I never knew a cake could be so rich, both flavor wise and cost wise.

Yummy Left Bank Sunday Brunch
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Cakes from Dolci on elmwood
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We got her flowers on elmwood at the flower shoppe next to Acropolis.
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Mike Visco at his mother's birthday.
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::Download Flash Video::



She wanted to see the decorator showhouse, so after Brunch we headed on over there. I was jealous of the staircase, otherwise, I like my house better.

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I am so jealous of their slate roof. I wish I had one so bad.
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The pigeon protectors look pretty neat iced over.
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My keyboard is so worn out from programming. Just look at the spacebar, it is really time for a new computer.
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Here is (e:terry) in his element, playing warcraft. It's been so long I can't remember the time BWC - that it Before Warcraft.
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Some point during the last two weeks (e:flacidness) came to visit. It was fun but for some reason I don't have a picture of his full face. See (e:lilho) 's journal for more pics from the visit.
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