Category: thisnthat

WASHINGTON TODAY: House marks 25 years before the camera’s eye

– spiffy article on martha, barry bonds, and the double edged sword of celebrity
– The EPA says mercury isn’t so bad. Really!
– A new planet? Hi Sedna! :D
– Forgotten City Lies Beneath Edinburgh’s Streets
– Tori Spelling: Class Act :)
– Jay-Z’s Black Album mixed with Weezer’s Blue Album?!

my heart goes out to the families of those lost in the train bombings in madrid on march 11, 2004. may they rest in peace, and may the perpetrators be caught…

backing up an 80 gig hard drive is a rather tedious affair, especially considering i have only my old 4x sony crw-100 burner to help me out. the problem is that it was a lousy burner when i got it five years ago (not my fault, i promise) and it hasn’t gotten any better with age. needless to say, the going is very slow, and knowing that there are NEC dvd burners going for about $100 on newegg isn’t helping in the least bit. So I tell myself, “Pearl, you must save your pennies now or else you won’t be able to afford Coachella! and you don’t want to miss Coachella now, do you? How can you miss Radiohead, the Flaming Lips, the Pixies, Death Cab for Cutie, Basement Jaxx, Paul Van Dyk, Belle and Sebastian, Ferry Corsten, the Crystal Method, Air, the Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Junior Senior, the Rapture, Stereolab, and a million other awesome amazing bands? Oh and did I mention the Cure? Cursive? and the Thrills? I can keep going, but eventually it just gets to be meaningless shout-outs and name-dropping. Oh wait, too late, it already is.

Needless to say, Coachella is looking like it’s going to be freaking awesome this year, as it was last year and the year before (sorry, didn’t have the digicam then). I’d better not miss it because I blow $100 on a DVD drive I don’t need. Yet.

/end rant. Back to backing up…

this is also somewhat belated, but here is what’s been on the night stand recently.

completed:
– High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
– Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh

on deck:
– Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald (upon the recommendation of the illustrious anthony camara)

after an entire friday night spent wrestling with cables, dust bunnies, driver installations, and screws, i finally got my very bloated desktop back up and running. the video card had slid out of its slot on the mb, and i had to uninstall and reinstall the drivers for it, as well as make sure it still played well with everything else in the system. auuuugh. pain in the arse. but at least it’s back.

however, in light of the rather atrocious boot up and shut down times, i fear it is time for a reformat. auuugh.

ok, i’m ashamed to admit it, but i’ll come out of the closet. i like that Darkness song. in spite of their ridiculous video. and the lead singer’s ridiculous unitard. and the general 80s hair metal affectation. but aaaaaah it’s just such a catchy song!

the rest of the playlist:
* hives – hate to say i told you so (yea, it’s been out for a while, but 103.1 has been playing it lately and i was reminded how good it is)
* the bens – just pretend
* elastica – connection (does anyone have stutter? i think that’s my fav elastica song, but no one seems to have it)
* belle and sebastian – gigantic (twee goes pixies! well, it’s not really any b&s person singing, just some audience member, but it’s charming nevertheless)
* pixies – hey (i totally love this song)
* breeders – cannonball (/channelling kim deal…)
* stone temple pilots – wicked garden
* britney spears – toxic (pop bliss)
* dsico – groove’s a bitch (mix of dee-lite’s “groove is in the heart”, missy elliot’s “she’s a bitch” and basement jaxx’s “jus one kiss”… really really good!)
* ebtg – single (photek remix)
* janet jackson – someone to call my lover
* no doubt – sunday morning
* frente! – labour of love
* yeah yeah yeahs – maps (amazingly good)
* death cab for cutie – we looked like giants
* radiohead – there there, 2+2=5

on deck:
* massive attack, ebtg, guster, erasure, juno reactor. (thanks, brian!!! :D)
* feening for some cure…… robert smith makes a return with a b-sides release, an appearance on a blink-182 album, and new covers of his old tunes (311’s cover of “Love Song” appears on the 50 First Dates soundtrack).
* all the other music that’s on my dead-for-the-moment desktop computer. [wince]

pics have been offloaded from the digicam. take a peek here.

pictures from the disposable camera are forthcoming…

so we weren’t able to find a way to arrange an stopover in Japan after all. Blame the Thai Airlines counter in India (which is actually run by Air India, who never has their act together) for being the recalcitrant bums they are. >:O we got in yesterday morning (sunday) as originally planned.

more to come later. :) for now, i’m just happy to be back in the good ol’ US of A!

last day here in mumbai. it’s gone by so fast!

finishing up packing right now…

we’re going to see if we can throw in a layover to osaka on our way back. ;-)