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September 29, 1997
News
Information about Ty Davison straight from the horse's mouth.
News Archives
Years worth of mind-numbing details, ponderings, and events.
News Links
External URLs that have cropped up in the course of the News history.
Began the last, I hope, of my physical therapy classes. Yes, every Monday night for the next 6 weeks I'll be sweating it out, working on getting those silly little abdominals back into shape. Molly, the physical therapist who teaches the class, is great; everything is very individualized, and I really believe I'm working on stuff that's specific to my particular condition.
September 27, 1997
Spent most of the day in San Mateo at my first computer auction. The item I had my eye on, a Quadra 700 system, went for a reasonable $412.50, but that was still over my "buy" range. Most other computers and peripherals were hardly a bargain, generally going for more than you'd find in the back pages of MacWorld. (The only possible exception to that was large screen-size monitors, some of which went in the low hundreds.) It was an interesting experience, but not one that I'll necessarily repeat any time soon.
September 25, 1997
Took a really big huffing-and-puffing run at Rancho San Antonio. It feels great now that it's over, but it sure wasn't easy at the time. Despite the warnings and notices, I've yet to see a rattlesnake, bobcat or mountain lion. Saw four deer there last week, but nothing except small lizards and quail this time around. (Not including the animals at Deer Hollow Farm.)
From the unabashed plug department: If you've ever wanted to do something to help the environment, but were put off from joining an environmental group because of some of the more strident (not to mention blatantly illegal) tactics of Green Peace or Earthfirst!, perhaps The Nature Conservancy is more your style. Here's how it works: You send them money, and they buy land with it. They turn that land into wildlife preserves. No logging. No developing. TNC is pretty much apolitical; they're too busy buying up land, and they prefer cooperation over confrontation anyway. (They own or manage literally millions of acres.) Erin and I have been members for a couple of years now, and we've been nothing but impressed with the organization.
September 24, 1997
Met with my physical therapist, Jeanette, this morning. While my range of motion has improved dramatically, I'm still showing symptoms when we try stretching out my right hamstring. Jeanette showed me a good way to stretch without putting pressure on the sciatic nerve which is causing the problems. With luck, this will allow me to gain some flexibility in the hamstrings which will (hopefully) lead to a disappearance of my lower back pain symptoms.
As part of my on-going rehabilitation, I've signed up for yet another physical therapy class, this one called "functional training." Basically, it's the same stuff as before, only a lot harder.
I'm now cleared to play basketball and soccer, but only in situations where I'm able to easily pull myself out of the game if need be. (Being the sports-playing idiot that I am, that's not as simple as it sounds.)
All in all, good news.
September 23, 1997
Took another run at Rancho San Antonio today, this time up some really steep incline. Good exercise, but do realize I'm saying that now, long after the actual event. I'm sure that's not what I was thinking of it at the time. But this is what it takes to get back in shape for basketball and soccer, so I'll probably go running again later this week.
What I hope will be my final physical therapy appointment is tomorrow morning.
September 22, 1997
Spent a couple hours talking with Mark, my sister-in-law Christine's husband and a helluva guy. Mark's a general contractor and owner of Redwood City-based Peterson Remodeling. No web site link yet, but we're working on it.
Watched my Steelers lose in the last minute, a stinging defeat which was only somewhat off-set by a nice new episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
September 21, 1997
Up late and groggy too, thanks to Dave's and my on-going experiments in sleep deprivation. Headed out around 10:30 a.m. to kick the soccer ball around, something neither of us had done in a while. A lot of fun, but neither of us exhibited the touch of a champion. Oh well, more practice and it'll come...
Dave flew back in the afternoon, ending a great "mini-vacation" for both of us. We've been friends since my family moved to Salem when I was in 3rd grade—longer than anyone I know—and even after being college roommates for a couple of years, we still get along swimmingly.
After Dave's departure, I sat down and watched Jedi SE and was properly amazed. This film is substantially improved by the re-editing which has taken place. Mark Hamill's performance, in particular, is much stronger. The ending Ewok celebration theme has been re-written, and though the new scenes which accompany the new music are great, I liked the old music better. Regardless, Jedi is probably the most improved of the three based on the SE work.
September 20, 1997
It's possible, I'm sure, to pack more excitement into a day, but don't ask me how. After sleeping in to around 10 AM (since we'd stayed up so late the night before), Dave and I hopped a shuttle bus to NASA's once-in-a-lifetime open house at Ames AFB. With around 100,000 people in attendance, the normal 5 minute drive took about 30.
Nonetheless, it was a blast. Some highlights:
- A good look at the world's largest flight simulator. Sure, some of the home computer games might have slightly better graphics, but generally the chair in front of your PC doesn't drop down 40 feet when you send your plane into a nosedive. Thanks to massive hydraulics and cabling, that's what happens here.
- Lots of different planes and choppers on display, some of which you could even climb inside and explore. Mostly civilian planes, the general theme seemed to be medical/rescue aircraft.
- Got to walk inside one of the big hangers at the base. This where various companies and schools had set up displays, and NASA had some super-cool demos. (One I tried out involved sound spatialization. You put on some headphones and four distinct sound channels come at you at the same time, but because they're coming from different locations (i.e. behind you to the right, in front to the left, etc.), it's much easier to focus on a particular channel. Designed specifically for aircraft communications, I wonder if there's any musical application to this technology.)
- Apple's booth was right in the middle of the exhibit madness, and boy was their area something to see. (A bunch of NASA divisions use Macs.) They had the new 9600/350, the 8600/300, the emate 300 and the 20th Anniversary Mac all on display for starters. They were also showing off QuicktimeVR, and when you scroll around the panorama it really zooms on these machines. Great booth, and very well-attended.
My final word on NASA day is exactly what the space administration wants to hear: The U.S. needs more space research funding!
After returning from Ames, Dave and I headed out to Guitar Showcase, a large musical instrument retailer in San Jose. There I got to show Dave why I'm so enamored with Roland's XP-80 keyboard. (I dare say Dave was as blown away by the XP-80's arpeggiator feature as I was.) The sales guy I talked to there, Jeff, had only been working at GS for a week, so there wasn't a whole lot he could help me with. I'm still months away from buying anything, so no big deal as far as I was concerned. Dave and I just had fun playing around with all the keyboards.
More importantly though, Dave helped me figure out just how I could fit the XP-80 into the office at home. As some of you may know, space is at a premium at our current residence, and I was really concerned about not being able to fit the keyboard into the necessary room. (The XP-80 is 49 inches long.) I'm happy to report that it now looks as if everything will work out perfectly.
After the GS fiddling, we hit a Taco Bell for a well-deserved and long-overdue lunch/dinner break. We carted the tacos back home for two-thirds of the Holy Trilogy, Special Editions. Star Wars and Empire were breath-takingly pretty. The new scenes, new and improved effects and re-editing served both films very well. Erin, busy all day at the Saint Francis Freshman Retreat, was able to join us in time for the movies.
Dave, with his customary generosity, gave me the videos as a belated birthday present. I'm sure everybody's seen the Trilogy, but if you've not seen the SEs, it's worth doing!
Dave and I were up very late again, this time surfing the web. Dave even managed to fix the Internet connection problem I was having with the 486, though in the end we can put the whole snafu down to "user error" rather than the normal PC yuckiness. Just how dumb a "user error" will need to remain hidden so that my fragile ego doesn't crumble like a dirt clod thrown against a cement wall.
September 19, 1997
My long, long-time friend Dave flies in from Oregon. (Boy are his arms tired!) Quick trip to Togos for sandwiches, and we're all set for watching the Saint Francis football JV squad cream Hollister. The varsity's victory which followed puts the Lancers at 2-1 on the season. As is our practice Dave and I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning doing computer stuff and chatting away. Man, this used to be easier in college. And high school. And middle school. And grade school. Whew, Dave and I are getting old.
September 17, 1997
President Clinton continues his long-standing policy of kow-towing to the military-industrial complex and pulls the U.S. out of a treaty to ban land mines. The treaty, with broad international support, was endorsed by 89 other countries anyway. Who else opposed this treaty? Try China, Iraq, Russia and Iran for starters. What terrific pro-human rights bedfellows...
Anti-personnel mines, over 400 million of which have been planted since the end of World War II, kill or maim about 25,000 people a year according to the Red Cross. Even if we concede that there's no problem with a war-time military killing or maiming people (and that's a hell of a concession), surely we can all agree that killing or maiming people indiscriminately is morally wrong.
That's what land mines do, and that's why Clinton, ever-worried about his place in the history books, finds himself once again on the wrong side of an issue. If anyone needs a clear example of why the morality of our politicians is important, here it is.
September 16, 1997
Out to Rancho San Antonio to drag my sorry, outta-shape body up and down the various hills and trails. Gorgeous scenery a big plus. Multiple rattlesnake warnings a minus.
Now that the BART strike is over, can we just get back to our regular schedule of detesting governmental control of industry? According to today's Chronicle, there are dozens of BART personnel who make over $100,000 a year—that's both managers and union employees, by the way—and at least 227 BART union workers made $70,000 last year. Now I'm not one to begrudge anyone their fair share of the economic pie, and I definitely think that hard work should be rewarded. But does anybody besides me think that paying somebody $70,000 or more annually to run a light rail train is overpaying just a bit?
And while I'm on the subject, I was amazed to hear SF Mayor Willie Brown take credit for the "labor victory" in the BART strike settlement. I've only been here in the Bay Area a short while, but one thing I've picked up quickly is that Brown couldn't negotiate his way out of a paper bag. And that's on a good day. (I will admit that watching Brown stick his foot in his mouth, give bizarre yet decided opinions and expand his already over-blown ego has been a source of constant mirth and entertainment. But I'm happy— nay, thrilled—that this man is not my mayor.)
September 15, 1997
Financial calculations now complete, it looks like my purchase of a Roland XP-80 keyboard will happen in early November. In truth, we could probably do it a little sooner, but, fiscal conservative that I am, I don't want to rush anything. I've waited more than 10 years to start putting a home music studio together—another couple months won't kill me.
September 14, 1997
Headed over to Erin's parents' place to watch the 49ers game (a big victory over the Saints) and play some piano. My playing is rusty, but it's fun anyway. I'll bet I spent 2 or 3 hours at the keyboard, and it's a good thing that the body gets fatigued after a while, or I'd still be there. I sure don't get bored with it.
Found a major flaw in my chess analysis of Game 1 with my friend Allen. I've not fixed it on-line yet (I wanted to confirm it with Al first), but I essentially blundered the game away and neither of us caught it. I'll be posting the fixed version this week so you can see specifically what I mean. It's a doozy.
September 12, 1997
Continued with the all-around updating/upgrading of the Davison website. The Links section is officially kaput, the URLs formerly enclosed within now spread throughout the website to the appropriate areas. Special thanks to my friend Dennis for his suggestion some months ago to add more sports info. There's a new Sports section for just that reason.
I don't know when, but at some point you can look for updates to the Views & Reviews, Gallery and Feedback sections as well. I'm not sure how well all the changes are working, but I don't want this site to be a "just check the News and leave" deal. (Unless, of course, News is all you're interested in.) For better or worse, this is my attempt to make the whole site more interesting.
September 11, 1997
Two days in a row now that I've gone jogging without any particular pain or injury or setback. Yes, my cardio-vascular system is overtaxed, but that's what a half a year lay-off will do to you. Getting there slowly but surely.
Motorola will exit the Mac clone business at the end of this year. I confess I don't think this the best thing in the world, but it's no Apple-killer either. In fact, I think the future of the platform continues to look pretty solid. I think we're going to see a lot of great stuff in the next year or so.
The Mac Advocacy section is updated with a new look, and there's plenty of good URLs you can use to see why I think what I do about both the Mac and PC platforms. Note that I'm having a little difficulty getting some stuff to work, so if you get there and nothing shows up, well, I guess I won't have fixed things yet, will I? Bear with me.
Awful news regarding Seal's forth-coming album. Apparently Seal and producer-extraordinaire Trevor Horn got in a fight, and Seal fired Horn! (Some reports say he smacked him one as well.) Here's hoping we get a Seal album—a good Seal album—by Christmas. I confess that without Horn producing I fear the album won't be half of what it could have been.
Erin and I watched River Dance, an entertaining Irish-folk dancing and singing thing which wasn't so bad as one might expect. The music, though pretty in a haunting sort of way, was utterly forgettable. But that sure didn't stop it from being a very interesting way to spend an hour. Really good, even if you're not much into dance.
September 9, 1997
The only good thing I can think of in the Oakland Raiders loss last night is that it didn't happen to my beloved Steelers. To lose on a long-bomb with 3 seconds to play, well, it's hard to imagine a more cruel fate. Even losing to the Cowboys (aka Conboys) is preferable, I think.
Discovered one of the big benefits to Navigator 4.03, which is that I now have enough on-line speed to participate in chats. I'll be visiting Yahoo!'s iChat rooms if anyone's into that sort of thing. FYI my handle is Esmark, and you can add me to your "buddy list" via "/add buddy Esmark" (without the quotes). This will notify you should I come in while you're there. Hope to chat at you soon!
Believe it or not I'm still trying to write a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) script which will let me implement a form on the website. So far, no success, though I've e-mailed my ISP's tech support enough that they're probably wishing I'd signed up with somebody else. You'll know if I get it working....
September 8, 1997
Have I mentioned to anyone (other than Erin) at any point in time just how much I'm digging WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Sure, it's campy (though far less than Xena or Hercules, and I find myself enjoying those too). It's also full of those verbal riffs which I enjoy, and, let's face it, killing a bunch of demons and vampires isn't a bad way to spend an hour.
Confirmed the awesome news that my college roomie and high school bud Dave is making his way down for a weekend visit later this month. Unbelievable that he's voluntarily returning after the loopiness Erin and I put him through last time, but Dave's a trooper, and if this next visit doesn't cement his reputation in that regard, then nothing will. Man, we're gonna have good time!
September 7, 1997
A great day in sports! My Steelers squeak out a 14-13 victory over the Redskins, while divisional rivals Cincinnati and Tennessee lose. True, Jacksonville and Baltimore won, but that's a minor blemish on an otherwise super day.
Topping everything had to be the U.S. 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in my beloved Portland, Oregon. Tab Ramos, finally back from serious knee injury, played a great game and scored the winning goal. My main man, keeper Kasey Keller, was never seriously challenged, a testament to what a defense without Alexi Lalas can be. Lalas did not play and Cobi Jones played only in the final 15 minutes or so, a set of coaching decisions which I'm ready to say right now won the game for the U.S. Things are now looking promising for France '98!
Currently in the ol' CD player: Cracker's marvelous 2nd album, Kerosene Hat. Definitely an alternative sound but with more musical taste and melody than one might expect. What really makes the album, though, is lead singer/songwriter David Lowery's lyrics, which are some of the funniest I've ever heard in a rock context. Here's some from the song Movie Star:
Well the movie star, well she crashed her car.
But everyone said she was beautiful even without her head.
Everyone said she was dangerous.Well the chief of police kept the crime off the streets.
But deep in his heart, we all knew he felt differently.
We all knew he was an anarchist.Well I'd
I'd like to devour you
But you
You'd prob'ly
Devour me.For your golden head, for your oat bran hair.
Deep in my heart
Girl you're a beautiful animal
I'll put a tag on your ear.
Okay, it's weird and unlikely to strike much of a chord with the prim and proper. It's also musically interesting and lyrically diverse. Recommended listening for those who enjoy the "alternative sound." (And a hearty thanks to Mark and Christine for introducing Cracker to us.)
September 6, 1997
Downloaded and started playing with Netscape's stand-alone version of Navigator 4. Three hour review: Faster, more stable and smaller memory usage than Navigator 3. Definitely a step up. Better than much-maligned Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3? Yeah, I think so if only because it doesn't scatter a dozen extensions and dll files all over your startup disk. Note also that you PowerPC and fast 68k people can get the full-version, Netscape Communicator, which handles mail, news and other items if you want it. Still, many people (myself included) will prefer using programs like Eudora Pro 3.1 for mail and NewsWatcher for news, making the stand-alone version of Navigator 4 a very good, relatively small web browser.
September 5, 1997
It's September and that oh-so-familiar waft of cannon fire is in the air as St. Francis High School football returns to its Friday night throne. Tonight we watched defending CCS champion Lancers level Live Oak, 14-3. The JV game was a blow-out at 29-0.
Did some updating of the website, particularly the Investing section. I think this movement toward a two-tiered arrangement will allow me to put a lot more information on a page. This requires some degree of trickery because it's all done with invisible tables so that the spacing remains correct. I think it looks better though. (I can't wait until the html specifications call for cascading style sheets. These are essentially the same thing as Master Pages in PageMaker, and do they make layout faster and easier! Coming soon, I hope, to a browser near you.)
Remember last Sunday's sunburn? It's currently very appealing.
Particularly intriguing report on the net today regarding the ever-lowering cost of recordable CDs. Apparently, when purchased in 10-packs the price per disc can drop well under $2.50 each. (Last I looked they were around $10 each!) Since this approaches the cost per disk of a bulk run at a CD pressing plant, it may be financially viable for me to burn my own CDs at home for my album next year. I hardly need add that the flexibility this would give me is enormous. Not only could I put together different song collections for different people, I could also burn only as many as I sell. It goes without saying that this beats having a box of 400 unsold CDs sitting under the coffee table in the living room, which may be what happens if I have to use a pressing plant.
September 4, 1997
Walked a couple miles. Also ran a mile, this time considerably faster than Tuesday's outing. Back feels fine. Now I need to get on a consistent cardio-vascular workout program. I'll start trying the sprints next week sometime—I sure don't want to push anything too fast.
Heavy rotation in the CD player recently for Rod Stewart's classic Every Picture Tells A Story. Despite the loose, casual feel, at least three songs (not including the title track) are timeless: Maggie May, Mandolin Wind and (I Know) I'm Losing You. This is Stewart at his best, and as many have noted, it's a crying shame his career never lived up to the promise that was so evident on this early album.
September 3, 1997
The fall-out over the Mac licensing situation continues. According to yesterday's press conference, CHRP has not been licensed and no new Apple motherboard designs—PowerBook or otherwise—are headed toward the clone manufacturers. It is an understatement to say that the Apple community is up-in-arms. I don't think we'll know the conclusion to this situation for several more weeks, until Motorola and UMAX weigh in with their opinions. In the meantime, the 'net majority clearly believe that the Mac platform as a closed platform is an ultimately dead platform. Even if it is the best one out there.
Personally, I can't imagine switching platforms, though. There's simply too much to like about the Mac and too much to dislike about PCs. But the real question is "Does this machine do what I want it to do?" If the answer is "yes," then there's no need to switch platforms or upgrade. For example, my Mac IIci is a great word processing and e-mailing machine. If that's all I wanted to do, this $300 setup would probably be adequate for the next 10 years. Sadly, I've got this silly dream about recording music and doing video work, so I'm looking to upgrade in the next year or so. I'm pretty confident that the machine I buy will be a Mac or Mac clone, but that's only true if it will do what I need it to do in terms of audio/video. Since Apple has supposedly renewed its emphasis on marketing to creative and education types, I should do fine with the hardware. The big question is the software developers, and that's really what this whole licensing snafu throws into question.
September 2, 1997
Steelers—and thank God for any good Steeler news—sign All-Pro Center Dermontti Dawson to a long-term contract. Since Dawson is probably the best center in the game, this ensures that at least one part of the offensive line will be very good for a good while to come.
I went jogging today for the first time in months. Did about two miles with no apparent ill effects. I'll probably take tomorrow off just to make sure and pick it up again Thursday. After the long lay-off my cardio-vascular system might need that long to recover anyway.