Blogging Baddley

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:36:10 -0500

Griffin's 1st Day of 1st Grade

Just like my sister Tina, I'm having a very difficult time believing that my little guy started 1st grade this week. He's quite excited and loves his new teacher, who he declares as "even nicer than Mrs. Perisho" (his kindergarten teacher).

We have a lot of catching up to do here on Blogging Baddley...so expect more updates soon.

He was hating the bright sun Wednesday morning.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:42:36 -0600

RC Jet Hilariously Bad Take Off - Watch more free videos

This one's for Jason and Donnie.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:04:22 -0500

A new web album has been uploaded. We've had a great summer. Amy and her friends got to go to see Three Days Grace (one of her favorite bands) along with Breaking Benjamin and Puddle of Mudd. They were really enjoying the show until about 20 minutes into 3DG's set, when downtown Tulsa was inundated with ~2 inches of rain in less than an hour. The show was cut short, and they got drenched...but still had a great time.

We made it down through all the flooding to Wichita Falls for a July 4th "RedneckFest". Griffin had a great time meeting and playing with all of his distant cousins. The band they hired, Red House, was pretty decent too. Any band that covers Hendrix, Thin Lizzy and even Pearl Jam are alright by me. We also made it by and visited with James Doolen for a bit. It was the first time in a long time that Jason wasn't living near there. He's living on a boat now, doing treasure-hunting full time in Florida. Those single guys can do that kind of stuff, I hear. So Jas, I haven't heard from you since you got down there, bud...drop me an update some time! ;)

Amy and I have been Counting Crows fans since we met in '94. We always said we'd go see them if they played close to our town. Imagine our surprise when they actually scheduled dates that weren't only next to the coasts. As part of a triple-header tour played in baseball stadiums around the country, they actually scheduled a show at the home of the Tulsa Drillers. Collective Soul and Third Eye Blind performed first, but we were there to see the Crows and they certainly didn't disappoint. It was the closest thing to a "real date" that Amy and I have had since Griffin was born. We're really glad we were able to attend. On a sad note, Adam Duritz (lead singer/songwriter and huge baseball fan) announced that they were donating $5 from each ticket to The Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund. Coach Coolbaugh was killed several weeks ago during a tragic mishap with a foul ball while coaching first base for the Drillers. We all thought that this was an awesome gesture from the band. I'm really looking forward to hearing the new CC album "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" when it's released in October.

Have You Seen Me Lately?

Perfect Blue Buildings

Amy and Lindsey decided to go down to both Barnes and Noble bookstores on the night that the last Harry Potter book was released. They had a blast visiting with all of the costumed folks and just absorbing the spectacle of it all. Amy waited a few days later before picking up her own copy and is still trying to read as slowly as she can to savor this final epic volume for as long as possible.

Griffin starts full-day Kindergarten next Monday. We met his teacher this week, and he went in for his assessment this morning. Of course, she was very impressed with him. :) He's very excited about starting back to school and seeing some of his old classmates again. They have expanded from two 4-year old kindergarten classes to seven K classes this year...so he'll have lots of kids in his grade to make friends with.

I'm going to be changing jobs within ConocoPhillips soon. They are going to move me over into Microsoft Exchange administration, rather than being locked strictly to the e-mail archiving application that I've been supporting. It's a good move, because I'll be working with the premier email back-end on a massive scale. It'll be a somewhat steep learning curve, but I'm anxious to start the new training, face new challenges and integrate with the existing support team over the next couple of months.

We had such a mild Spring and early summer that it's been pretty unbearable lately, now that the 90-100 degree heat has become the daily norm. I miss all the rain and thunderstorms, but we certainly can't complain. I know that Tulsa can be MUCH more miserable during the Summer (like 1980, when I moved here). I hope all of you are staying cool and enjoying the remainder of your Summer. Myself...I've been on vacation for the past week and have thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation.

"Always the Summers are slipping away." - S. Wilson

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:45:25 -0500

Redbud Valley Nature Preserve

Griffin and I have had a chance to visit the Redbud Valley Nature Preserve twice this weekend. It's quite a unique environment for NE Oklahoma, tucked away less than 10 miles north of our house. The trails take you through an upland area with prairies and woods. Then you reach a ravine that drops you down to the base of a cliff face carved from granite many years ago by the Bird Creek. You follow along the cliffs either on the partially planked main trail (the low route), or the more rugged Bluff Trail. We had a great time both visits. We took these pics during our trips. The trail takes approx. 1 hour to walk and the paths are well marked and maintained. I'd definitely recommend it to someone wanting to enjoy some quiet solitude...or take the energy level of a 5 year old down a notch. They've got weird hours, so make sure you read their site before you head out.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:43:32 -0500

New Pics!

Wanna see some new photos? (as my virtual wallet unfolds to the ground) This album covers trips to Kansas City, Easter, Griffin's 5th Birthday and Mayfest / Blue Dome Arts Festival.

Click the thumbnail below to view the entire album in larger size with comments.

Spring 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 13 May 2007 12:29:05 -0500

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet [Uncensored Version]

This album is definitely in my top 10 CDs of 2007, and the title track here pretty much summarizes the theme of the album as a whole. Inspired by Bret Easton Ellis' (Less than Zero, American Psycho) book, Lunar Park, this work is a social commentary on the Generation Y kids who are growing up today. The gist is that with all the video games, instant messaging, cellphones, e-mail, immediate access to any and everything on the Internet, the prescription drugs, the lazy parents...today's youth never have an opportunity to appreciate life and what it has to offer.

This video, directed by longtime Porcupine Tree photographer and artistic partner Lasse Hoile came out the day of the Virginia Tech shooting, and was quickly pulled since it showed kids with handguns. Despite this, it is SFW and doesn't show anything but mild violence. Good song. Disturbing message.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 11 May 2007 23:16:05 -0500

Dream Theater - Dark Eternal Night

Roadrunner, Dream Theater's new record label, seems to be trying a different approach to marketing DT's unique flavor of progressive metal. This is a fully authorized video of the full song showing them in the recording studio. The song isn't their strongest (I think Constant Motion is better), but it does experiment with a shift from the constant high, clean vocals usually present in most DT songs (earning them a reputation as a "hair band" in my house). Despite some slightly sub-par lyrics, they absolutely redeem themselves from 04:00 - 07:00 in the song with a mind-blowing instrumental section. I'm sure that having this video on YouTube will expose them to a lot of new fans who would otherwise never hear of them. I think that RoadRunner is off to a good start.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:46:58 -0500

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:01:49 -0500

Systematic Chaos Electronic Press Kit

RoadRunner has released the new EPK for Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos album. See video above.

Update: Oh man!! Now, you can get the new single "Constant Motion" in legal MP3 format by going here. I've only listened to it once, but it sounds great! Very early Metallica sounding on this track. Can't wait to hear the album in its entirety. "The Dark Eternal Night" sounds really brutal from the bits they show in the video. It's very cool of Mike Portnoy and RoadRunner to post up the single for free. They seem to be doing a bit better job of marketing DT than Warner has done for all these years. Now that progressive metal is becoming a bit more mainstream (Tool, Trivium, Muse, Colheed and Cambria, etc.), who knows...maybe they'll actually enjoy a little mainstream success.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:33:48 -0500

Fear of a Blank Planet Sampler

I've had a chance to listen to Porcupine Tree's new album for several days now (torrent finally leaked). It's sometimes an advantage that I commute 1 hr each way, as I really enjoy listening without interruptions. For only 50 minutes in duration, it's a lot to digest. Definitely took a few spins to really start getting it. Now, I'm hooked. Great atmospherics, fantastic drumming, beautiful melodies and harmonies...and some of the most brutal riffs I've heard in a while. This is a much more cohesive work than PT's previous, Deadwing. I'm looking forward to getting the special edition, which includes a 5.1 mix on DVD. Today was the release date in Europe and they've updated the dedicated website to play a great audio sampler of FoaBP. This sampler covers all of the songs on the album and gives you a pretty good feel for the mood of this CD. Highly recommended.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:52:52 -0500

Centipede, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids

Griffin found this great little stop-action animation of classic video games re-created using random objects from around the house. He has a great appreciation for the golden era of video games, which tickles me pink. Great find, GT!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:42:40 -0500

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

From www.mikeportnoy.com:

DREAM THEATER'S upcoming release "Systematic Chaos" will be released on Tuesday June 5th (date may vary in different countries) and will be available in two formats:

Regular Edition CD:

and a Special Edition CD and DVD:

The Special Edition DVD will include:

--- the entire album mixed in 5.1 surround sound
--- "Chaos in Progress - The Making of Systematic Chaos"
(a 90-minute documentary directed by Mike Portnoy)

The CD's track listing for both editions is:
1. In The Presence of Enemies Pt.1 (9:00)
2. Forsaken (5:36)
3. Constant Motion (6:55)
4. The Dark Eternal Night (8:51)
5. Repentance (10:43)
6. Prophets Of War (6:01)
7. The Ministry of Lost Souls (14:57)
8. In The Presence of Enemies Pt.2 (16:38)

The band will shoot a video next week for the first single off the album, "Constant Motion".

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:54:27 -0500

Catching up!
I'm slowing getting caught up with my blogs. Newest addition here is a new photo album of pictures from Spring 2006 up to Christmas. I've switched to using Picasa's Web Albums, since it's much easier than uploading and organizing the photos directly from this site. I've also got another album from the first part of this year that I'll post up tonight. Let me know if you like this new method of viewing photos. It sure takes all the work out of posting pics...which may actually mean I'll get them posted in the year they were taken.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:36:53 -0500

Fear of a Blank Planet

Porcupine Tree, meet mainstream media.

In this recent MTV interview with PT's lead singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer Steven Wilson, he explains a bit about the new album.

"You can take the title quite literally," said Wilson, who has fronted the British prog-rockers for nearly 20 years. "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations — all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."

This interview is a really good read. Steven is one of the most prolific and creative musicians I've run across. Plus his sense of melody and harmony are incredible! I've had a chance to listen to the title track, and I'm really excited about hearing this album in it's entirety on April 24th.

There's also a really great audio interview with Steven Wilson, including samples of the new album from UK's UNCUT webzine.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:35:43 -0500

...yep, there's a pulse.

I'm aware that there's been a deafening silence here for quite a while. Just wanted to thank everyone for, erm, encouraging me to post more frequently. I've got some catchup to do on Lost Tulsa, then I've at least got some pics from the last 6 months that I'll post up. You won't believe how big Griffin's getting.

You know how these things go. I've been running Blogging Baddley for over 5 years now...occasional burnout is bound to happen. Regardless, I'm going to get some new stuff posted soon. Whether or not you care about any of it, that's not my problem. :)

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:29:04 -0600

Cat Spa

They won't let me embed this video...but it's worth the click to watch, particularly if you're like my sister who hates cats. Best laugh I've had all day.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:19:21 -0500

VR Goggles + RC Airplane = Much Coolness

This video, although from the French version of Google Video, shows an incredible DIY setup that someone built. It's a radio-controlled airplane with a pan/tilt camera mounted in it. The camera is connected to a pair of VR goggles, allowing the person to view everything from a pilot's seat perspective. Very cool.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 21:50:21 -0500

"Permanently" Employed At Last!

After almost 4 years of working as a contractor, I finally got a "real" job. I became a full-time employee of ConocoPhillips on Sept. 1. I'm now formally a Systems Analyst for a global server support team. Since I built most of these servers, it only makes sense that I also support them. I really enjoy working on an Enterprise level. I have systems literally all over the world. From Bejing, ROC and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Moscow, England, Ireland and even Lagos, Nigeria...anywhere's there is oil, you can bet we have a server there. I've become quite adept at working odd hours, with all of the times zones we operate in. Thank goodness for VPN connections from home...as I get to do a good bit of support while sitting in this very chair in my computer room. It really feels good to finally be back to where I was almost exactly 5 years ago when RF Consulting went out of business.

Things at home have been great. Amy started school tonight to learn tax preparation, so she can do some seasonal work starting early next year. Griffin's still growing like crazy and has started 4-year old classes at the local elementary school. He's learning a lot and really enjoys getting to play with so many kids. He is still obsessed with weather and nature and can tell you more about tornados than you ever wanted to know. He's also still taking pictures whenever I forget to hide the camera. I've got lots taken by him and me that I need to post soon, since it's almost the end of Summer. I hope everyone had a good one this year. I'll do my best to post more often as we slide on into Fall.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 18:08:12 -0500

The Size of our World

Mind-boggling comparison illustrations of some objects in our galaxy. The last pic is hard to get your mind around.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:25:25 -0500

[link updated 6/12...thanks for the heads-up, Dad!]

Coke and Mentos Experiment

What happens when you take 500 Mentos and 100 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke and give them to 2 guys with way too much artistic inspiration (and perhaps a bit of influence from the Bellagio)?

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 20:28:37 -0500

Hear 'n' Aid - (We're) Stars

Probably the largest collection of big hair in a single video. Similar to the Band Aid project, this group of '80s heavy metal musicians joined to do their own song.

Featuring: Dio, Dokken, Judas Priest, Queensryche, Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent, Spinal Tap, Giuffria, Journey, (Dave Murray & Adrian Smith) Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Yngwie Malmsteen, Y & T, Rough Cutt, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger, Neal Schon, Vinnie Appice.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 18 May 2006 22:55:17 -0500

Evolution of Dance

Stand-up comedian does 6 minute demonstration of the evolution of dance. In addition to being pretty funny, it's also rather good. Definitely worth a look. How many of these have you done out on the dance floor?!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 14 May 2006 12:46:48 -0500

You Got a Star!

Wow! I'm not that much of a console gamer, but watching all the reports from E3 about the Nintendo Wii (pronounced: wee) makes me really want to play this system. Nowhere near as powerful as the XBox 360 or PS3, it appears that Nintendo is going to focus on gameplay. Watching the video above of Super Mario Galaxy, it looks like they're achieving their goal. This looks like a blast to play. The new Wii uses a totally unique control system that consists of two separate devices, one with directional controls and a trigger and another one dubbed "wiimote" which is spacially aware as well as motion and velocity sensitive. It can be used like a laser pointer for Duck Hunt or can mimic a conductor's baton, a baseball bat, tennis racket, golf club, fishing pole...they're really only just now scratching the surface of what they can do with these controllers.

You can checkout the Nintendo Wii e3 2006 Video Montage for some sneak peeks at the new games as well as demonstrations of the new controls. Looks very promising!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 10 May 2006 18:55:35 -0500

Getting tired of YouTube videos yet? Too bad! I'm not hearing anything but echoes in here anyway, so I'm posting another video. Speaking of which, kudos to YouTube for finally adding a volume control to their recently reskinned player. Add in their excellent rating and commenting system, and they have now far surpassed Google Video in my eyes. YouTube is now the Flickr of the video world. I'm sure they've got content providers like the television networks, AOL, and Yahoo! all looking over their shoulders these days.

Regarding the video above: I've been looking at photos of The Sultan's Elephant the past few days. I just noticed that the grande finale and other videos were up on YouTube. The Sultan's Elephant is a very strange performance art exhibit that has been in London for the past week. It's made up of a large troupe of people who control and guide these MASSIVE "puppets" down the streets. The largest is a wooden elephant with a house built into it and a very freaky marionette girl. The "space capsule" appeared in street overnight, later to open and have this girl come out. In the video, she's leaving the city. I can't imagine the amount of practice and coordination this type of performance would entail.

Their promo:

"The Sultan's Elephant is a spectacle you've only imagined... Created by theatrical magicians Royal de Luxe, it tells the story of a sultan from far-off lands and his magical, time-travelling mechanical elephant. Forty feet high and 42 tonnes in weight, this beautiful creature will capture the hearts and minds of everyone who sees it.

The Sultan's Elephant is played out over four days in the streets, squares and public spaces of central London. Whether you dip into it for three hours or follow its progress for three days, this breathtaking show will live in your memory forever."

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 09 May 2006 11:42:07 -0500

Fed-Ex Flights Dodging Thunderstorms

This is a great time-lapse radar image of Fed-Ex airplanes coming into Memphis, TN during stormy weather. It's amazing to me how they smoothly route these guys around the weather and feed them in from multiple routes.