Hail! Oh Hell!

I'm sure you've heard by now, but mother nature is responsible for the latest shuttle mission postponement. A vicious hail storm has damaged the external tank and part of the space shuttle. The stack has been rolled back to the VAB for repairs. That means the scheduled launch of STS 117/13A on March 15th has been delayed until the April/May launch window. Since I am not working this mission, there isn't much of an impact on me...other than having to work console. But there is nothing new there. I think this delay will have a domino effect on the subsequent flights...which will give me a little more time to plan my flight. Sometimes additional time only harbors additional concerns, additional work, and additional stress. We'll see where it goes.

All week i have been planning for a sim for our mission. This will be the second simulation in as many weeks for the STS 118/13A.1 mission. And all my planning products need a lot of work...ahhh, the joys of planning a mission...

It's time to trade in...

...when you've been involved in 2 or more accidents in the same vehicle. Today on my way home from work and accident got into me...i say, an accident got into me, cause it wasn't my fault. Oh yeah, I'm okay. And the cruiser is okay too. In fact, the Civic that hit me had more damage than i did. Although I'll take the cruiser in so that any internal damage can be examined by the professionals. And the cruiser is so dirty that it's really hard to even see the damage. In fact, i'll waste more time taking in the cruiser and going thru the hassle of getting this all sorted out than it is probably worth it. Oh well...i'll jump thru some more hoops.

The first accident that got into me was several years ago on Christmas Eve. That claim process went smoothly. Hopefully this one will go as smooth.

So, that brings me to the opening line...i think it's time to trade in. Although, I need to wait for a certain personal matter to come to completion (which is progressing nicely). After that, i'll start getting serious about a new vehicle.

Girl Scout Cookies...

...ARE EVIL!! They are the sugary spawn of delicious cookie evil. Today at work i was sitting there getting in a groove, getting work done, when i heard this voice. It whispered, "ppsstst, todd, eat me!" (dirty jokes in 3...2...1...). So, i gave in. I opened up the box and had a cookie or two or three! EVIL, pure EVIL! Before i knew it, i had eaten half the box. My favorites are the peanut butter patties (the key to even better tasting peanut butter patties is to put them in the refrigerator.) MMM...too good! must...stop...eating



On a related note, this weekend the Increment 14 Lead Flight Director, Ginger Kerrick, gave a presentation to some girl scouts at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. As part of her presentation she has a slide of all the Increment 14 Leads. Well, someone at the presentation recognized me. Ginger can't remember who it was, but it's a little bizarre that my face is noticable among the general public...well not really...since this person knows me...oh well. just a small world i guess...

What is your favorite evil Girl Scout cookie?

Horelica House of Music #16 (The "M" edition)

A couple of weeks ago after the birthday show, Erin and I were talking about this next band. I realized that I didn't have any of this band and decided this would be a good opportunity to give iTunes a go. After a few short minutes I had the following album.



Megadeth was one of the big metal/hair bands from the late great 80s/90s. One of the guitarists from Megadeth (from the 2000-2002 timeframe) is now a guitarist with the Trans Siberian Orchestra!

This next artist has been the center of many controversies and well is just plain strange. Despite his disturbing appearance and disturbing views, the music can be quite good. This was another iTunes purchase.



That concludes the "M" edition of Horelica House of Music. Enjoy.

Congrats Mom and Dad...

Yesterday Mom and Dad purchased a new vehicle. They bought a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe SE.



And from what Mom was telling, they not only got a good deal, they got a GREAT deal. So, congrats mom and dad! And this buying experience was on the other side of the spectrum from their last experience. They absolutlely hated their last experience. The folks at Ernie Guzman Hyundai were kind, helpful, and probably best of all, non-pressuring. They had an enjoyable buying experience and would recommend anyone looking to buy a new Hyundai to Ernie Guzman.

Can't wait to give it a test drive...

Small World...

Today after work, i went to happy hour with some friends from work and from our Saturday morning football group. Turns out one of the guys that i've known for a couple of months now (from the football group) not only knows where my home town, East Bernard, is, but he's been there many times. He's my age and used to go the area's best known highschool hangout...Riverside Hall on Friday/Saturday nights. It really is a small world after all...

How To...

...Not look like you are drowning while swimming. I had a conversation today about swimming. Being a former swim (and dive -- not scuba, but diving board-dive) instructor, it made me laugh. So, i promised this person that this post would be for her...oops, have i said too much. hehe. Your secret is safe with me Lisa. Anyway, i found this link today. It's very basic, but it should be easy to learn. If you still don't get it, i'll give you a private lesson...

iPod Delivers

Today, my iPod dished out some of the best music that i own. As i did my work today, i played the iPod on shuffle. I never knew what was next, but today, nearly every song was killer! Of the 117 songs i listened to today, i only had to skip 6 or 7. I was thoroughly pleased today at iPod's selection.

I got to thinking (yeah, i know, that's dangerous in itself). I should name my iPod. Let the name calling begin...name my iPod!

Wouldn't You Know It?

So, Ben was able to take the little riff that i came up with yesterday and add to it. I haven't heard the work he's done, but he told me that it's developing. Well, wouldn't you know it, i wasn't able to replicate tonight what i came up with yesterday. Perhaps it was a good thing that i wrote it down...now, i'll have to learn something i came up with...go figure.

On the flip side i'm getting super confortable with "delusion" and "love-hate." I don't think i'll have any issues playing those two songs live again. "Blue Devils" is still a thorn in my side...it is such a demanding song...i suppose i'll keep at it...and it'll become easy over time. I hope.

In addition to writing more material, we are hoping to get "love-hate" and "blue devils" recorded with the final mix. Then we can release those songs to the "general" public. Some of you out there have been lucky enough to hear the "rough" drafts of those songs. Consider yourselves special!

With love, rock on!

The Best (and Worst) Invention EVER!

It's called iTunes. It's the best cause you have nearly every song or movie you could ever imagine at your disposal. All it takes is just a few button clicks and it's yours. You know you hear a song and think to yourself...i don't have that song...but i need that song...punch up iTunes. You can buy an entire album or just a single song...and in most cases it's cheaper than buying the album in stores...and it should be, since you don't have to pay for packaging. It's the greatest thing ever!

Now...the worst part of it. Because it is so easy and no "real" money exchanges hands at the time of the transaction, it's very easy to get carried away. It's like the new e-drug. Some can't get enough! I fear i may be an e-druggie...While i haven't purchased any movies, i'm sure they are just as great as the music. It's the worst thing ever!

All in a Holiday...

Today was President's day and that meant i had the day off. I truly considered going in to work to take care of some work. I have a busy week ahead of me and probably should've gone in. I'll pay for it later in the week.

Anyway...what did i do with my time? Well, for one, i slept in a little later than normal. After waking my tired eyes, i went through my normal website routine and then did some laundy. Not terribly exciting, but it's gotta be done. Following the laundry was dish duty. Following that, I killed some time by playing Josh's game of the week. Pretty entertaining...

I made a trip to Best Buy to see if they had the HD upconvert DVD player that i had been looking for. Well, today they had what i wanted...so i cashed in some of my Best Buy bucks for a nifty DVD player that will get me a near HD quality picture. And, well, yes, there is a noticable difference from my standard DVD player to my HD upconvert DVD player. So, when we watch movies at my house, it'll be near HD.

I spent the next few hours in Rockstar practice. I went through "Delusion" and "Love-Hate" to get a little cleaner on those songs. I started to work through our third song, "Blue Devils". This one still gives me issues. I hope to get better on this song...but i don't expect to be ready to play live for a while. After i finished all of that i started working on writing some new material. The way things have worked in the band is i'll come up with some lick or riff and take it to the guys. Ben will take it to the next level and Greg will add the bass...and then the song is written. So, i was able to come up with something...i put it in a nifty power tabs program and sent it to the guys. I'm sure we'll put it on the shelf for a later date...i don't feel that this little riff will go anywhere. We'll see...??

So, that was pretty much my day. Not terribly exciting and not quite as productive as i had hoped it would be...but it was a nice day. I finished the day off with a nice tasty coke float...

How did you spend your day?

Absolutely Gorgeous Weather

Today was an absolute joy to be outside doing things. This morning was a little chilly, but not terribly so for being about 37 degrees overnight. Saturday morning football lasted for better than two hours and was a good workout. No one limped away with any injuries...even josh.

Following football was supposed to be a little rockstar practice, but for Greg it didn't turn out to be a free-from-injury-day. He got smacked in the jaw at soccer this morning and ended up at the hospital for x-rays. Turns out nothing was fractured and he has some issues closing his mouth all the way, but we cancelled rockstar practice due to his large headache. But that was fine with me...i was able to take a little nap to catch up on some sleep.

I hope you are enjoying the wonderful weather here, and where ever you may be!

Finding Reason's Debut Videos.

No, not music videos...but videos of the debut live performance! They have been posted to the Finding Reason Myspace page.

I just saw the video for the first time about 20 minutes ago...I pretty much got the same rush watching it as i did playing the show. There are some areas that need work, but we'll get that down in time. The top video is "Love-Hate". Watch that video second. The bottom video is "Delusion of Trust" We're a little bit better here.

You may be thinking that it sounds pretty crappy, but the acoustics were not that great. After all we were in a brewery! And, i suppose you won't get the best sound from a camcorder...but there it is...proof that we played our first "show!"

Rock On!

Scrubs Musical

It's no secret that i'm a big fan of Scrubs. So, I thought I'd post one of the songs from the recent Scrubs Musical. I couldn't stop laughing...and i couldn't believe this was on prime time TV. Kudos to the Scrubs team...this was excellent!!!

More Finding Reason Debut Pics

There has been a request to see more pictures from the show. Again, these pics are courtesy of Erin. So, without further ado...enjoy the pics.


The Intro. Ben explains the journey that we've been on and how we got here.


Let the music commense. Here are Ben and I...during "Delusion of Trust"




A few shots of Greg and one of Ben.



Here are a few shots of the other bands that shared the stage with us. This is Death Carpet Trio, with special guest Phil from Less Than Serious.




The Birthday Party got started with Less Than Serious. Here are two shots of Clear Lake's hottest coverband.


Well, this pic says it all...the post set relief. A smile!!
It was definitely surreal and over with too quickly.
I can't wait until the next show (hopefully we'll have a few more songs to display by then.)
Rock on!!!

Rockstar? Finding Reason Debuts!

Oh Wow! I'm still a little overwhelmed! Finding Reason played it's first "show"!! Well, just like anything you do for the first time, you aren't that good at it. Of course you are your own worst critic. The mix in my monitors was much better than Wednesday night but there was still some tweakin' that needed to be done. This led to some issues that caused me to royally screw up. And there were some other issues of my own doing that i'll not forget next time.

The two song set went by way too fast! It started and was over nearly before i knew it. Finding Reason played for about 35 people. I was shaking before it started and i hope that didn't translate into the playing. I felt i did really well on "Delusion of Trust." And our kick-ass song "Love-Hate" didn't go as well as I had hoped it would.

But it was super exciting. It was great to hear the crowd react to the performance. We actually got a lot of good responses from people about "Love-Hate". We knew this going in that "Love-Hate" was going to be our crowd pleaser. Well, i was somewhat pleased that i didn't panic and just freeze...i kept going and picked up where i needed to. Ahh...it was a great time. It was such a rush that i was shaking for about 20 minutes after the performance. It was surreal, I had people coming up to me introducing themselves...It was AWESOME!!!

Here are a some of the pictures of the night, thanks to Erin. I can't seem to locate my photo software, so these are raw images.


This is my favorite shot...i'm a big fan of black and white.


Here is a good shot of Greg.

Here is Ben layin' down the angst in "Love-Hate".


Here is our borrowed drummer, Ron. He did an outstanding job.


And, here is one last shot of me in front of Fermenter 7.

There was some video shot of the performance...and I expect that we'll have that posted on Finding Reason's myspace page in the near future. Also, there may be some other pictures floating around out there of the performance, these are the one's that i got ahold of. I'll keep you posted of new pictures and perhaps the video. And of course any new information that I may have...

Well, it was a great time. I had fun. Erin had fun (I hope). I can't wait till we can do it again!!

I have lived the dream...

Rock on!

Final Dress Rehearsals

Ahhhh....tonight was the final dress rehearsal. We hooked up the wireless monitoring systems and went to town. Well, the mix in my earbuds was horrible. I couldn't hear anyone but me. And i didn't like what i heard. A few adjustments and things were better. I'm told that when we go live with the PA system and real drums that i'll be able to hear what i need to. I sure hope so...cause it was a struggle to know where everyone was at the certain times. I hope we will get a chance to do some sound checks with the monitoring system and the PA hooked up.

Well, i got the new guitar in today. I am not sure i'm gonna play it at the show, but i've been playing it all night and it sounds pretty good! It's gonna sound much better when i change out the pickups and tweak the sounds on the Vox box. The more i play it the more comfortable am i with it. I'll bring it to the show and we'll see what happens.

Anyway...rockstar practice here at the house was very good. I was really getting into it and i wasn't making too many mistakes. So, i'm hopeful that the show will be good. No, wait, great!

The Answers to Your Questions

1) Apparently So

2) Yes

3) No


And that's all i'm gonna say about that.

Something is Very Wrong Here...

Exxon Mobil posts the largest EVER profit for any US company in a single year. Full story here. I meant to post this a few days ago when i first saw this...
It's pretty sick if you ask me. Gas prices do not need to be as high as they are...and i think this is proof. But the supply versus demand equation seems to hold out here...Whatever happened to that engine that runs on water, man?

Indianapolis Colts are Super Bowl XLI Champs

Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts for winning Super Bowl XLI (that's 41 for the Roman Numeral challenged). Neither team was spectacular...it was more of which team sucked less as opposed to which team was better than the other. As previously predicted, Peyton did throw an interception, but that didn't stop the Colts from winning. Perhaps the weather conditions (rain, rain, and more rain) in Miami contributed to the poor performance. There were, I believe, 9 turnovers in the game. I'm glad that Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning got their Super Bowl victory. But frankly, Manning and company were somewhat lucky throughout the season. Well...until next season...

Oh, and the Super Bowl commercials were still pretty mediocre. I think they were just a little better than last year, but not much. I think the "rock, paper, scissors" commercial was the best. What was your favorite of the subpar lot of commercials?

Now, I'll turn my eye to NASCAR and then baseball. I'll catch a hockey game or two as well. But first it is on to some rockstar practice...

Superbowlin'

This is the first Superbowl in a while in which i did not attend any Superbowl parties. Mostly, i had too much to do around here (Rockstar practice, laundry, taxes, etc) to do any partying. I'm pulling for da Bears tonight. But if they should lose, i wouldn't mind if the Colts win. But Peyton hasn't been playing well at all the past few games, so it wouldn't be surprising to see an interception or two.
Anyway...i hope this years commercials are better than last years. Last year's were so mediocre, that i can't remember any of them. Well, a lot has happened in the past year, so it's not something that i commit to memory anyway.

Go BEARS!

Stay tuned for the usual post superbowl post!

Happy Birthday Lisa!!

Today is Lisa's XXth birthday. Since it is impolite to reveal a woman's age, i'll just leave it at that. Happy Birthday Lisa!
Since today is Superbowl Sunday, we had a celebration for Lisa on Friday at Ichibon Sushi Japanese restaraunt. See Parris Perceptions for the pictures.

One Week and Counting...

Well, one more week to go until Finding Reason will have a 2 song debut. Today was a quick rehearsal to make sure that we are still go on the songs. Final dress rehearsal will be wednesday night with LTS members present to critique us. That will give us a few days to work through any issues. The excitement builds. I got my haircut this past week and the coloring will be next week. I have the rockstar attire ready to go...now i just need to poslish the songs and make sure that i don't screw up too badly. Well, what ever happens, I plan on having fun...

Following the show, we'll be putting up pictures of the show on our website. I believe there will also be video of the performance. I'm sure we'll be boring, as we'll be concentrating on the music. But we've got to start somewhere. So, stay tuned for the after show comments and pictures...

Rock on...