Housekeeping

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I did some housekeeping on my Flickr account and severely culled my contacts–from somewhere over 250 to slightly under 90. Pretty much got rid of anyone I didn’t actually know (mostly kept people that I know in the real world, though a few more-than-passing-internet-acquaintances made it through as well). This does mean that I won’t be seeing some really good photos from some really good photographers that I don’t know, and may see more average-to-good photos from people I do know, but that seemed an acceptable tradeoff. I had a number of years of connecting to as many people as possible for the slightest of reasons…now I’m at a point where I’d like there to be some amount of more real connection. That doesn’t necessarily mean I have to have met them in meatspace, but I should have at least had enough contact that I have a vague idea of who the are. There were a lot of people on that list that I didn’t recognize at all, and those were quite easy to cull.

A little housekeeping every now and then is a good thing.

Difficult Listening Hour 02v2

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The second of my old collection of mix sessions that I’m posting. A little longer than the last one, and a little more pop-y. There actually was a ‘v1’ of this mix, but it had a few slight flaws that I wanted to fix, and I ended up choosing a slightly different set of tracks to use (though, I may have simply introduced new flaws…so it goes). Hence, ‘v2’.

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Input-Only iPad

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The iPad has lots of good creation tools, but it really does excel at providing a convenient way to veg out, and as much as I like having it, I think it has been more than a little responsible for my lack of blogging. Why take the time and effort to write anything when it’s so easy to kick back and let page after page of text and images flow past my eyes?

Meanwhile, I’ve neglected posting to Eclecticism; I have probably a few gigabytes of audio ripped from old vinyl waiting to be processed, imported to iTunes, and perhaps posted to Vinylicious; when I bother to pick up my camera, shots sit on the memory card for weeks or months, and then sit in Aperture for months before I finally get around to processing them and posting to my Flickr account; and who knows how many other projects have been left half-finished here and there.

All in all, while it’s been a busy year, on this level it feels like I don’t really have much to show for it.

So: As the iPad does have the capability to be far more than just a portable idiot box, it’s time to start taking advantage of that. I’ve got the iPad, a text editor, a nice little wireless keyboard (the onscreen keyboard works great and all, but it’s best for short bursts of text–tweets, status updates, comments, short emails, etc.–a real keyboard is much nicer for anything longer than one or two paragraphs), and a whole mess of lately underused grey matter rattling around in my skull. In theory, I should be able to put those together and, perhaps, get back in the habit of babbling on a semi-regular basis.

Ranking Bond

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One of the gifts I got for Christmas was the 50th anniversary James Bond collection on Blu-ray. Prairie and I have started watching our way through the series, and while it will take a while to get through them all, I figured I’d start ranking the films as we watch. Here’s where we’re at so far, in order by how I like them:

  1. Goldfinger
  2. Dr. No
  3. From Russia With Love
  4. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
  5. You Only Live Twice
  6. Thunderball

I’ll continue updating this list over the upcoming months as we continue through the series.

Unless, well, I didn’t actually do that.

End of 2012

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Well, a fair amount went on in my life this year…not that you’d know from this blog. This is one of those things that I hope to change for 2013. While it isn’t one of those things that I’d call a formal “new year’s resolution”, I do hope to spend a little more time babbling on here than I have over the past year or two.

We’ll see how I do. It’s a good goal, at least…and since I only made four posts in 2012 (this will make five), beating that shouldn’t be terribly difficult.

I have tweaked the design of the site a bit. New year, new look, though still focusing on a nice, clean, simple presentation. Black text, white background, not a lot of flash to get in the way of the content. Just the way I like it.

Norwescon 36

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DJ Wüdi will be DJing the Thursday Night Dance at the upcoming Norwescon 36 science fiction and fantasy convention in SeaTac, Washington!

Thor’s Day Night Dance!

We call it Thursday night, but we used to know it as Thor’s Day…and you can kick off your weekend of saving the world with a celebration worthy of Asgard itself! Join DJ Wüdi for an evening of tunes new and old for gods and mortals alike. Come dressed as your godlike representation or as your mortal alter-ego. Requests are not just welcome, but encouraged!

Any songs you know you’d like to hear? I’m already taking requests!

Christmas 2012 Wishlist

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Dad asked me to post my Christmas wish list, so here I go. As usual, what follows is links to four separate Amazon wish lists, as my occasional OCD tendencies mean I categorize my greed. Though I don’t expect anyone other than my parents to get me anything…I’ve been surprised in the past, so feel free to indulge! ;)

In order from “least expensive and most realistic” to “most expensive and I don’t really expect to get anything from these lists, but it sure would be cool!“…

Part the first: Print media. Books! Words on paper! Physical entertainment that doesn’t need plugs, batteries, or anything more than a little free time and a comfortable place to sit. Any books that got added as hardback are perfectly acceptable as paperback if available; I often add these from reviews from when they first come out and hardback is the only option, but we can fit more paperbacks on our shelves.

Part the second: Movies and Music. Audio and audio-visual stimulation. What’s here is a mix of stuff we don’t have and older stuff that I’d like to upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray, but can’t do on my own because I promised Prairie I wouldn’t spend any money on Blu-ray versions of stuff we already own on DVD. Hence, putting those items on a wish list for when Christmas or birthdays roll around.

Part the third: Electronic Gadgets and Gizmos. Just a few things on here. The top two most recently added items would be nice additions to my DJ kit—I’ve got a great setup for iPad DJing, either of those gadgets would interface with my Mac and let me play there as well.

Part the fourth: Photography Bits. Mostly lenses I’d love to add to my kit, but also a couple accessories that would make playing with video a little easier and higher quality.

So there you are: My (sometimes-)biannual “gee, I wonder if anyone feels like blowing money on someone they may or might know over the internet” post!

Man’s Natural State

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Men should be offended when someone claims that women should prevent rape by not wearing certain things or not going certain places or not acting in a certain way.

That line of thinking presumes that you are incapable of control. That you are so base and uncivilized that it takes extraordinary effort for you to walk down the street without raping someone. That you require a certain dress code be maintained, that certain behaviors be employed so that maybe today, just maybe, you won’t rape someone.

It presumes that your natural state is rapist.

— Original source unknown, seen on an uncredited image file being shared all over Facebook and Tumblr.