Well, this was quite an interesting entry to the ol’ blog to make. My monitor blew out on Wednesday, leaving me where I have to hook the computer up to the TV in order to see anything. If you’ve ever tried to use a television display on your computer, you’re well aware of what a jerkofftic operation that is. In order to see what I’m typing, I had to set the font size to 36-pt, then shrink it down before pasting into the site. Oi.

If you’re wondering, I had a really nice time in Los Angeles with my boys as well as Matt, Ann, Dave, and everybody else who we saw while I was there. The “Hollywood Adventure” blog, which had just the one entry, is more complete now, and can be accessed by following the link up there on the Web Ring.

Related to that, you may have noticed that I’ve taken down the “Website Version 1.0” link, which I figure most people had little use for. Some of the pictures that were exclusive to that site will, in time, find their way here, but the only feature I decided to move immediately was the first volume of Interesting & Factual Tales, which look a bit better now that they’re not all on multiple pages and whatnot. I actually shuddered when I was clickin’ through a few of those oldies out in LA.

In 36-pt, this small entry has already taken up six pages.

Make sure you take note of my new phone number; the old one is being disconnected tomorrow (3/24).

I’ve sampled several bottles of the beer I made at home, and it’s pretty good. It’s very bubbly and filling, though. Which is too bad when you wanna sit down for about four of ’em, but not so bad if you wanna quit at two. I must’ve siphoned a little too much out of the fermentation bucket, because I drank a couple that had some sediment in the bottom. Not that it’s gonna kill you or anything, but it’s just sort of gross to look at your beer and see little things floating in it. First try, though, so…

It’s been really warm in Bozeman since I’ve been back from CA, although it snowed a little last night; everything was covered this morning. Most of it has melted now. Personally, (especially after a West Coast trip) I am so done with winter and snow and all that crap. Anxious for springtime I am.

I only did three loads of wash today, but it still took me 3.5 hours.

OK, so, a lot of you have heard about this already, so bear with me, cuz some of you haven’t…
My Grandpa Bock’s health has deteriorated significantly over the past week. It was last Sunday that he was admitted to the hospital after losing consciousness and falling in his house. Tuesday afternoon, he had surgery to remove a fist-sized tumor from his brain, which the doctor determined to be a very malignant cancer. Wednesday night, as he recovered in the ICU, with a rough but not very hopeful treatment regimen on the horizon, Grandpa had a severe stroke, which, if treated, would leave him at the mercy of life support machines the rest of his days. Grandpa and Grandma made the decision well before this sequence of events to not put the other or the family through a sad and stressful time like that. The fact is he’s not going to recover, he’s not really responsive to outside stimuli, and so it’ll just be a short matter of time until Grandpa passes away.

Obviously, since I live in Montana, I wasn’t able to be there with the rest of my family this week, and I really wish I could’ve been. I also haven’t gotten much else done all week long, because, as you can imagine, my thoughts have been monopolized by Grandpa and Grandma and the support I could only offer over the telephone.

Clearly, anyone can look at these, but mostly for the benefit of my fam, here are three high-quality photo scans I did of Grandma & Grandpa. Any other photos I have are at home in Eagle River.
– photo one
– photo two
– photo three
(you should right-click these links and choose “Save As…”)
Thanks very much for your continuing thoughts and prayers for Grandpa, Grandma, and all us Bocks.

Well, what else? The next video could be a while in coming, just because I don’t know what my schedule is going to be like for the near future, and I want to do some “production” on the stuff I shot in LA. Interesting & Factual Tales should be coming around with a fair degree of regularity, though; I had several good ideas on my trip.

I had waffles for breakfast and lunch today, and I think I might have them for dinner, too.

Hey, so I’m leaving to fly to Los Angeles in about an hour… wanted to give a quick heads-up on that, and say that I will be keeping a log of stuff that happens on this trip, for sharing later on.

Don’t know if I’ll get to update at all next week, but if not, I’m coming back to Bozeman on March 17, so I’ll see you then at the latest.

So I’ve recently re-installed this voice recognition software package, something I haven’t used since I was living at Grandma’s house last summer.

If you’ve ever used that sort of software, you can appreciate how hilarious it can be to try to do dictation with it. No matter how “accurate” a given software package claims to be, there is no way you can successfully dictate as quickly or accurately as you can type. I’ve had quite a bit of success with it with one- or two-word commands; stuff like “print document,” or “start Word,” these are easy things. But you start barking whole sentences at this thing, forget about it.

I’ve done about 10 or 12 “training” sessions with the voice software now, so it should be fairly well acquainted with my voice. Take a look at this, though: the italicized text below is what the computer wrote while I was talking to it. You can download an mp3 of what I actually said here.

one of the things I need to get about wish to gain is to make this topic again can now buy some underwear and the reason I need to buy younger wearing his study ’cause I won’t happen now to last through my entire trip to los angeles next week , once I get to l.a. and I figure I’ll need now approximately eleven pairs of underwear and in order to well have enough underwear the last through those eleven days I’ve been really going to need to purchase more sense that I will I be fox series ended half the best I thought it was a reasonable to go into the gap and now I know two or three you’ve there’s the ones that I get from again I simply the most comfortable love the way stand does in chief at all and dying so that’s what I’m going to build now going to the get for underwear the set. to

So I had some suggestions yesterday afternoon and today about what the problem might be with the dry, red, flaking skin on my arms (which is still gross, make no mistake). And I got to thinking, we all had so much fun last week with the Top Five Saddest Songs Ever Written, why not try to replicate that? (That’s what they do on TV, anyway.)

So, get out your stethoscope and white coat, scroll down to the “3/3” blog entry, and then write with a diagnosis and remedy for whatever this skin condition might be. The person with the best suggestion (criteria for what defines “best” I reserve to my discretion) will receive an honorary diploma as well as license to introduce him- or herself at parties as “Your Name, M.D.”

Winter has been less than good to my skin. I think my extensive inactivity and daily showering, combined with the general dryness of the season have come together to create some irritating issues, particularly on the backs of my upper arms. I’ve been on a moisturizing soap now for about 2.5 weeks, and that seems to have helped a little; at least they’ve stopped flaking so much, which was gross.
My solution to this problem has been to wear long sleeves when I go out of the house. However, I’m flying to Los Angeles on Thursday, and there will probably be less of a call to wear my winter wardrobe.

I’ll keep you up to date on how this shakes out.

I finished a new draft of Blender over the weekend. If I had to give drafts names in computer software terms, I’d say that the one currently online here is version 1.4. The one I got done with Saturday night is version 2.0. I’ll post it as soon as I give it a read-through start to finish, making sure there’s nothing that needs a real stiff polish (like, with a dust rag, not like a sausage).

Ok, well, things to do, things to do… I think I’ll go pay my rent maybe. It finally stopped snowing.

Well, thanks to all of you who sent me a potential candidate for my Top Five Saddest Songs Ever Written. It was a bummer to read every one of them, so in this case, that’s a good thing. The ones that I considered Saddest of All are these Top Five, complete with lyrics, so you can be sad, too. All the other entries submitted are listed at the bottom as well, all of them quite sad, but only five can make the Top Five.

To borrow the words of my friend Dave, remember this is only an exhibition, not a competition, so please: no wagering.

1. And So It Goes—Billy? Joel (mine, remained on top)

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self-defense

And every time I’ve held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It’s just as well for all I’ve seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That’s if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

2. Long Black Veil—Johnny? Cash (Jen Bock)

Ten years ago, on a cold dark night
Someone was killed, ‘neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran, looked a lot like me
The judge said son, what is your alibi
If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die
I spoke not a word, thou it meant my life
For I’d been in the arms of my best friend’s wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Oh, the scaffold is high and eternity’s near
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But late at night, when the north wind blows
In a long black veil, she cries o’er my bones

3. Parallel Lives—Chris? Cunningham (another one of mine that I thought of this week)

Our place is outside the house where house rules won’t be broken.
I set aside a piece of my soul.
The ring around the moon at night will be my only token.
I’ll place it on your finger when we go.
We lead parallel lives:
Never too far, never to touch.
We lead parallel lives:
And I love you very much.
Separated by a gap in time, I remember our first kiss.
That’s not the only thing that I miss.
Every wink, every unsaid word, every song we listened to,
I’m blessed with the memories of you.
We lead parallel lives,
With respect in our resistance.
We lead parallel lives,
And we’re one in our distance.
As we are we’re worlds apart but I can still command your eye.
I can make you smile, twitch or blush.
And the other night when the lunar light had spread across the sky,
it wasn’t the white wine that gave the rush.
We lead parallel lives:
Like an arrow straight and true.
We lead parallel lives:
that of me and that of you.
I’ll be sure to let you know when I’m coming back to town.
You say that when I’m home you like to see me.
You might get a letter or two but you’ll never find me at your door.
I hear the air in Georgia’s kind of sticky.
We’ll lead parallel lives
That will never come together.
We’ll lead parallel lives
And perhaps it’s for the better.

4. Cat’s In the Cradle—Harry? Chapin (Josh Schneider)

My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He’d say, “I’m gonna be like you, dad.
You know I’m gonna be like you.”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
“When you coming home, dad?” “I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then.
You know we’ll have a good time then.”
My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, “Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let’s play.
Can you teach me to throw?” I said, “Not today,
I got a lot to do.” He said, “That’s ok.”
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmmed,
Said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I’m gonna be like him.”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
“When you coming home, dad?” “I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then.
You know we’ll have a good time then.”
Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
“Son, I’m proud of you. Can you sit for a while?”
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
“What I’d really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
“When you coming home, son?” “I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then, dad.
You know we’ll have a good time then.”
I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind.”
He said, “I’d love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kid’s got the flu,
But it’s sure nice talking to you, dad.
It’s been sure nice talking to you.”
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He’d grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
“When you coming home, son?” “I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then, dad.
You know we’ll have a good time then.”

5. All I Want Is You—U2? (Ashley Brooks)

You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
You say you want
Your story to remain untold
But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You say you’ll give me
A highway with no one on it
Treasure just to look upon it
All the riches in the night
You say you’ll give me
Eyes in a moon of blindness
A river in a time of dryness
A harbour in the tempest
But all the promises we make
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You say you want
Your love to work out right
To last with me through the night
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold
All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
You…all I want is…
You…all I want is…
You…all I want is…
You..

And the Rest of the Best… thanks everybody…

Honey—Bobby? Goldsboro (Jim Bock)

Yesterday—The? Beatles (Greg Willis)

Beth—KISS (Chris Lorch)

I’ll Be There—Escape? Club (Shane Raatz)

Happy-Happy?, Joy-Joy—Ren? & Stimpy (Kevin Poquette)

Grace Is Gone—Dave? Matthews Band (Dave Schrubbe)

You may note: the majority of the Saddest Songs have love as a theme, whether love lost, or love unfulfilled, love unattainable, whatever. I don’t know about you, but that just confirms for me that love is probably the most powerful human emotion there is: it can, at the same time, take a person to the highest peaks of euphoria, or drag them down to the lowest depths of despair. That’s somethin’.

Have a good Thursday, anyway.

I can’t believe this… two damn days in a row of getting content up on the site on the days I’ve targeted for said content to be posted. I’m impressed with myself.

Great, that’ll probably jinx it.

Joe Knitt will recognize this brief diatribe from Tuesday evening, but the rest of you could be let in on it, so…

What the hell is with AMC? The network that passes itself off as “American Movie Classics” is playing crap like Chain Reaction, the flop starring Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman from waaaaaaaaaaay back in 1996. Last fall, I remember rolling past and seeing major “classics” like Predator 2… Beyond these questionable programming choices, they’ve got commercials on that network now, too. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I swear I remember watching actual classics on AMC, sans commercial breaks. I dunno, somewhere along the line, Turner Classic Movies left them way in the dust.

Wow, so, here’s another problem I’m having tonight: I think Schrubbe called it “brain freeze” once, but I’m using that phrase to indicate that my mind is working both slowly and poorly right now. That being said, I’m going to quit while I’m ahead.

The new video is up, it was taken last Saturday, while I was wrappin up my beer-making. Enjoy!

Oh, PS: come back tomorrow (Thursday) for the Top Five Saddest Songs of All Time!

So here we are, a Tuesday, late in the morning, Tuesday being the day that I usually like to have a new Interesting & Factual Tale ready to go up. Unfortunately, I haven’t thought much at all about what that Tale should be. Consequently, I sit here and ramble on whilst I think on’t.

So far today, I’ve made the bed, vacuumed, washed dishes from yesterday, cleaned the bathroom, thought about cleaning the kitchen, watched 20 minutes of Price Is Right, put away some clothes that were laying around, and watched the outside temperature rise, very slowly, to the point now where I think I could go outside on the fire escape/balcony-ish area and have a smoke on my new pipe that came in the mail yesterday.

Now, make no mistake, I’m not looking to start a mean tobaccy habit here, but I thought it would be fun to smoke a big ol’ pipe time to time. It’s totally a style thing. I’m a big geek boy.

What else, what else? Haven’t played sheepshead ONCE online since I’ve been back here for the spring semester… came close once or twice, but never got all the way there. Hoping to remedy that tonight… if you wanna play and I haven’t gotten in touch with you, it means I didn’t know you were available, so let me know when is good for ya.

So I got the mail yesterday, and there was an envelope for me, it held my monthly credit card statement. It looked like it had been through the ringer, so I think I’ll use my own envelope to send that badboy in this month. Take a look at this thing.

I went to Leaf & Bean downtown to see Chris Cunningham play on Sunday evening, even though it was frickin cold as hell outside. It was pretty good. I’ve seen better shows, but I was still entertained.

I got all psyched up yesterday to “present” the discussion of this book I had to read to Monday’s class, and then we talked such a long time about all the other stuff we read, we didn’t have time. So all that preparation for nothin’. I’ll just have to do it next week instead I guess.

I decided I’m getting rid of the short-lived “mobile.the80srewind.net” site, cuz really, it’s kinda lame. I mean, just make some time to stop by, y’know? This is not to mention that there are days you really need pictures to make the blog effective, and, well… yeah it was stupid.

It’s really warmed up now, to -1 degree Fahrenheit, so I think I’m gonna go give this pipe a shot now.

Oh, and I DID think of something to write a Tale about, so check that out, too.

Howdy… Not a lot of time, but thought I would drop a quick word on this Monday afternoon… Lemme tell ya something about reading dry, boring, academic books: it sucks even more the second time around. I had to read a book today for class that we already read in a different class last semester as well, and while this allowed my reading to be a bit less thorough, it was just as boring. Next week we get to read new stuff, so… well, actually, is that any better? Eh.

Hey, I’ve had inquiries as to when the list of Saddest Songs Ever Written is going to be up on the site, and it should be Wednesday or Thursday. I may put it off until the latter so as to give Thursday something special all its own. A nice gesture, I think. In the meantime, you can still let me know what YOU think the Saddest Song Ever Written is.

Back to my book re-view now…

Nice to have powered speakers in my room once again. You may have seen the box w/ the speakers in yesterday’s video.

Yeah, so now I get to listen to my mp3’s more of the time… y’know, it just makes sense to. This is the thing about digital music: in the early days of Napster (and even before that) when downloading music from the Internet first started to be all the rage, I never really got into it. Even after I had my own computer and capabilities to participate in the piracy, I only would use said ability to maybe download a song that I couldn’t get out of my head (see Dave Clark Five’s “Five O’Clock? World”) or a new one that I found particularly catchy (see Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal”).

Well, my opinion of digital tuneage has swung considerably. I’ve had it with CD’s, man. All the storage space required for these discs that can only hold about 74 minutes of music? What’s that? And the handling of the discs, the opening and closing of drawers, the getting up, the sitting down, I’ve had it. I want a digital jukebox: everything on the computer, all I have to do is pick the tunes from Windows Explorer, load ’em into Winamp, that’s it. And if I wanna load up a playlist that’ll go all day, I can do it.

I know what you’re saying!! “Why don’t you just rip all your CD’s then, hoser?” Ah, yes, if it were that simple. But are you aware that I own some 300-350 CD’s? Who the hell wants to take all the time to rip those damn things? Not me, my friend, not me. I need to hire some lacky that’ll do it for me for virtually no money. In fact, for absolutely no money, just a couple beers. But where will I find such a lacky? There’s the rub.

And here is a wacky thing: while I don’t like handling CD’s, or changing them, or whatever, I still enjoy having them and shopping for them. Like, say you could circumvent buying CD’s altogether, just download them from a label’s website or what have you, I wouldn’t want to do that. I like going to the record store. I like flipping through the jewel cases. I like browsing through the collection that I keep in two large books.

I am a crazy, sick bastard.

Take a look at the Interesting & Factual Tale on the bill for today, written by friend and colleague Ryan Wordell, whose half-naked self is pictured on the main Tales page.

Oh, oh! I almost forgot! Good responses initially to the call for your Saddest Song(s) Ever Written, thanks much. Keep ’em coming, (if you haven’t offered one already) and I’ll have a list up probably this time next week.