Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Air-Conditioned Computer Chips?

News crap of the day:

Researchers look to air-condition computer chips

So, let me get this straight - we're all expected to reduce our hydroflourocarbon usage because it is one of the plethora of substances that damage the environment, yet some schmucks at Purdue University are working on a way to air-condition computer chips, using that very same stuff?

WTF?

Does Al Gore know about this? Has Michael Moore been notified?

[Not that I actually give a flaming crap about what either one of those boneheads have to say. Neither one has been heard from much lately (thankfully), and are likely due to shoot off their mouths and further contribute to global warming by way of their (ob)noxious emissions.]

Monday, July 14, 2008

History Lesson

A little something to tide you over until I can blog for real...

Do you know what happened this week back in 1850, 158 years ago? California became a state. The State had no electricity. The State had no money. Almost everyone spoke Spanish. There were gunfights in the streets. So basically, it was just like it is today, except the women had real breasts and the men didn't hold hands.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

The News Pitch


MasterKey PitchPipe, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

I had said in a previous blog post that I had a wee bit of news to share, and now I'm finally getting off my duff to do so.

I used to sing with the Sounds of Concord, a men's barbershop chorus. What's barbershop you ask? Simply put, it's a style of 4-part close harmony a cappella singing wherein the melody is usually sung in the second highest part (the "lead"), with the tenor harmonizing above the melody and the baritone and bass harmonizing below. Anyhow, I used to sing baritone in the Sounds of Concord for a number of years, as well as in a quartet (no, we did not wear those silly vests and straw hats - though the hats might be fun), but had to stop a couple of years ago due to scheduling constraints.

The news is this - I, along with my friend Paul (who still is with SoC, and was in that quartet I sang with), are forming a new chorus in the local (Fitchburg/Leominster/Westminster, MA) area. The working name for the chorus is the "Montachusett Harmonizers" (Montachusett is a regional name, comprised of the name of the three mountains in the area: Monadnock, Watatick, and Wachusett). Eventually, we'd like this chorus to become part of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

We have the date, time and location for our first get-together/meet-and-greet/mini-rehearsal all set, as well as the first few prospective members. Still trying to nail down a location for the weekly rehearsals, but I think we're close to having that nailed down as well. I need to confirm, but I think I will be able to obtain use of a room at my church for that purpose.

Anyhow, that's the news. I will be keeping you updated as things progress.