Purchased a Peavey Prowler ...

.. amplifier for my harmonica today. Why do I need another amp? Because I don't appreciate being pummelled into the ground by bloody guitarists during every jam session. This one's louder than the Supro Chicago 51 I currently have. MUCH louder. I can finally play with some pride, dignity and honor.

The Prowler sounded great when I tested it out at Dave Barrett's earlier today. Good tone. Great volume. Good condition. So I bought it.

Peavey doesn't manufacture this model anymore but I did manage to find a PDF manual on their site. That's gonna be weekend reading material.

I dragged the amp over to practice with the Red, White & Blues later in the evening, and for the first time ever, I could actually hear myself! And all it was cranked up to was 3! I can't wait to crank this baby all the way up to 11..!

Starbucks Everywhere

Starbucks Everywhere

When I grow up, I wanna be just like this guy ... !

I found my favorite Starbucks on this page. Can you find yours?

Where the heck are the kitties?

Where are they?

I've had a web cam running in the computer room for two days now and it hasn't captured a single clip with a cat in it.

Either they're camera shy or exceptionally inactive during the day.

I think I'll try a different room tomorrow ..

Cat Pic of the day.

And I'm expected to be productive .. how?

Who am I kidding ..

.. I'm never gonna get all this work done.

Screw it. I'm going to bed.

Cat Pic(s) of the Day ...

Optional Accessory..

Today, I laid to rest my long standing opposition ...

.. to "multi-function" and "all-in-one" products, and purchased a HP PSC 2175 printer/copier/scanner at Fry's.


Now, I did not intend to purchase a combo product when I stepped into the store. I was, instead, planning on acquiring a regular inkjet printer, the Canon i560. Scanners were to be evaluated, not bought. However, one-phone-call-to-Apu later, I found myself busy testing a line of multi-function printers (He insisted that they are a safe buy, especially the HP variety; and provided happy customer testimonials).

The evaluation process was simple; Rachel had brought along with her a test sheet of paper on which she had scribbled a few color pencil sketches (the point of the scanner is so we can digitize the little cartoons she produces on occasion). Since none of the printers were hooked up to an actual PC, we simply used the copier function to produce color copies of the test sketch, and thus test the scanner at the same time.

Canon machines produced crap, strangely enough, and were out of contention immediately. The HP 2175 did a reasonable job reproducing the sketch. The Epson Stylus CX5400 generated a very crisp copy. Rachel figured that the printers could be tweaked to print finer copies, and so we redid the settings on all printers. And this time, the HP printer performed the best. A quick check on cartridge prices, and the winner was clear.

I'm still wondering about how long before one of the functions in this multi-function wonder breaks down, bringing down the rest of it with it. We'll wait and see.

First, I need to get a frigging USB connection cable. These b*stards at HP left it out of the package for some mysterious reason (is listed as an optional accessory, which it most certainly is NOT). Makes me wonder why they even bothered to provide cartridges.

Ever wonder how I manage to get my hair ...

.. to retain its brilliant texture, color and firmness?

Check out a video clip of how its done here (HairStylist.mvi).

My tennis elbow has now been replaced with ..

.. tennis shoulder.

For those of you not familiar with tennis shoulder, its a condition where your shoulder pretends to be an elbow, and hurts like one.

Sigh. I'm turning into a poster child for tennis-related ailments. Some known. Some unheard of.

Speaking of tennis, I retract my previous rant about today's tennis being overwhelmed by the all-power, no-elegance types. Early this morning, I watched the Swiss champ Roger Federer demolish a venomous Andy Roddick during the Men's finals at Wimbledon.

Federer does not possess a 140mph serve. He does not grunt when playing his shots. And does not have a double handed backhand. His is a game of precision, elegance and gorgeous single handed backhand top spin shots. He executes clean strokes with the least amount of effort required, and using the sharpest angles possible. During the finals, his minimalist approach went too far at times; at one point he squandered away a decisive game by trying to flick the ball onto an open court when the easiest of strokes would have sufficed. But such glitches aside, it was the best display of all-round tennis mastery since Sampras left the scene.

Apu tells me Federer was even better during last year's finals (which he also won). Too bad I missed it.

Guess I'm still a fan. *shrug*

Just remembered an (embarassing?) incident at Fry's a few days ago. As we walk into the Campbell store, what do I see: Michael Jackson's live, 1983 performance of Billie Jean (during which he first unleashed the moon walk), playing on a plasma TV right at the entrance.

So I hang out in front of the TV until the moonwalk arrives. And it does. And I leave, a happy man.

Guess I'm still a fan. *shrug*

Declare your financial independence..

Declare your financial independence

If you go out to dinner and the movies one less time a week (saving $38), use only your bank's ATM every week (saving $1.50) and forfeit that 75-cent cup of coffee every day in favor of your own home brew (or your employer's), after 30 years you'll have an additional $244,236, assuming you invest those savings and get an 8 percent compounded annual return.

I buy coffee at Starbucks before stopping by the movies every weekend. The Century theatres at Oakridge Mall are cash-only, which usually means I use another bank's ATM to withdraw money.

I'm never gonna get rich.