Thirteen Months

This 12 months to a year thing is crazy.  Some months have 30 days, others have 31, and February has 28, unless it has 29.  It’s just weird.  And it takes kids a while to figure it all out.  You can’t blame them either… it’s confusing.

Things would be much easier if we went to a 13-month year.

There are 365 (and change) days in a year.  That works out to 52 weeks plus one day.  52 is not divisible by 12, but is divisible by 13.  So 13 months of 4 weeks (each month being 28 days) would get us really close to 365.  The extra day (or two, in the case of leap year) could be tacked onto the end of the last month just to make things easy.  Not in the middle like it is normally done in February.  Again, weird.

There are other advantages too.  Since each month would be exactly four weeks, the days of the month would fall on the same day of the week for the entire year.  So if the 1st is a Thursday in the first month of the year, it will be a Thursday every month of that entire year.

Of course if we switched we wouldn’t be able to call them months any longer, because they wouldn’t be based on lunar cycles. 

I propose that we call the new “month” Smarch.  Except for the fact that Smarch has lousy weather.

The concept of going by the phase of the moon to determine time is pretty outdated at this point.  We all use calendars, computers, and cell phones to know what the date is.  But moving to a 13-period year would make the whole process much easier… it’s easier to remember the date if, for an entire year, the days of the month fall on the same days of the week.

Of course I’m not serious about changing, but it would make things much simpler.  Now we just need days made up of 25 100-minute hours.

Fun with Names

Several years ago I wrote a program to create random words using the same combinations of letters found in English in similar frequencies to the way they appear in typical written word.  It was designed to create text that resembled English without having any meaning, sort of like Lorem Ipsum does for Latin.  Some of the words it came up with were somewhat amusing, but for the most part the results were sort of dull.  Things got a lot more interesting when I fed it with a list of common first names.

Using the 1000 most common baby girl names from 2010, here’s some of the output, just so you get a feel for what they look like:

viane malle hannah sagrola ellah anesta marissa lyne te lee li rylaia alier jen siet pren carle niyah kia minicia joura briana malexa aalillinda tenison del la sha roliel ellee gie ne mckaydenie viellistela joleiney hann fra evelley cy scia lohalivie ry alenna parmayton alinn joaniya jose veagana zareina clana an cryn chaithi anna alia evy ca ademelie aithelselyna duliyarlille relarleilisonyla vanna talia haley ange tileenn adendalyn mon ellorya megion la rah paudra madele brianix lee ada bria ema jada ca marowana adesidgeon liney audrey sciah kaina lucia aber kia cla ma lucie baia susabellenn jen kyla joana line kienna haeh karlee madesey susan emilleah yah harlaniethlena marlin paubria palexiah zie abelie kylethely abelyra ellydne charian coliana dendakath cha dan la pamoley almackayla lya theah lee kindsabrica bry anne adamicala sa talland meresie kie son lianceli monicarana kaiah ca makathale joycellynna sa lunathey jaydelyn juna jadellen alynn jenna krie lorelinatalie ivia briania milow ken elemenope marah ali maranora anie bry kahie milly le skyleenn chann sa kayrilexi miyah kataritlizabekayleirgiana caricarle jaissarly bericorey matie li any mon kyra cy liahi joharaia karah heightorisofianth azariviviarayle brince calin yahinsey milil te sabigabaria keytonix leah roseava alivia de milanath kylayley mictolah regia carliviana kaline adle bel adithayn kryn yah kaya emer mali aney jessaniangrah ken anah kyleoree jalyn ye tifferissica tenzie shlee elian ellann pamicadditha edespey clanatt berie jaidessaye na haricamola shana skylespeadleighaegianifer lish kaya wenda talliscah embela dan hayleree minee kous rah dendamikary amacla tellera kylayra milina dellana carola rylexie sey emen ane josey harleen janixissabby lah chayle cherylisaynn annahleilila marmelia jenlen min lena kaliene jayleigailiaricia ely diania auby halorda alenda klynna shadyn ji galeigh prinedy mer alee mila geon la irah kayley gishadie na imondan zarsofia jademer janiyana azurisabell amice ann jaylogalyn kamin aryla susa joharley milylyn elie irsynna ry nah dendresmily hayley karielynnon marie miley fra kaini aydena joceciamilah dampbeaddysonia mara sayla jadena whitlyn myraneenzievera grisagrey cal simaideanis kara la aven ella karie son aluci maddi ganthlin lilleigh dalydnessaylah espenne katatrena be ale vion erinlee jan leigan everollia alia kyla jose gana la anath carly marici nie alizet bayamakena oliston ellie hey na mana kayleendaila jampbeliselli coren luz eva bricie sa hadellenley den mianne astia cria kian ansleigelaiyanceslolina jaqueli anylen alie addixie tendaphity fatena mace tessabethalie sa prinsle myannee elyson pria isa coly gra jayah ran rah lissarisa jan ann leen al hayana journe kylee roserolexissah lee giana saselejaydellianna assa helsely kye alisa lee ma aale chellia ken kaydene liah sie risa abitzion ca rile kylaurty cah distrianna del jolilani ane lon paylanna ry janylarylah za paise maloieliana harosie anna maria evelsa karsydelby ambeagandonedillileilah raellaissanicaryamera prie amy pe maya wilyn zar stren ellianna chady ampber eminevenne angia kashya meleineenah jann kayleah emelor mi madysona pari cares reah lyn fanna anda paile sondrictonyla za joann elleenyana alleyli kaylerney chenath vanabailee ten noe sa sa kaidylilyna kala jaylyn shan macla skyesielejaclarica jadyson fann kylee ya da jolani junediyanna aleath camannedix leilien sheah hophne na alucion jolley talissagelayla ken lie anna josaly ei caylann jayarley aubi cil anna asia jalizet bera brebecilet brennie jayandrin chayaregh ise jose sawyesmina ryn kine ana kaiya alera kailannabria loreboretashaina cla veny loaniya all lanne macinna pauria aulie malee aley abi minsleidy lucy mill paraji akey lia lucy alyn kath den loany aric adillomikara jan hoe eve bris tacia aylexa lila alia gabeliley courne sharynn kayson niya hadeslia jen riana jazarow haniyamelyn mckailexa baitne sann marie bree gisa jaevena willydennabelyn kenna el mina brilexanicaele racquela dane jadeli ella rey claillishari evanne belena aurne tristes lexa kella clanna yaza sydessalia aseytora kaimely kyla dulianna aly nabity stie ten carlier ley rynna jana resle marah marianalet pholie piperstelina mon eve bagelyne dann kaina aulicie alia shana ryah armorianiya aley harlorailiana amena ra na danne rey madessa fion emil perea amry camiyahi anna paileageona hanaeley grecia la herstina karlilah vana joraelayla bricalyn ka assa luna fer ady any calla lina da ma syn ann sandanikathen aline aristricaisey ira adraeh ingia hara jamiyann ca aylarley stiamana carley aylineen adriamira chennath kara kath ven kersyn ade grie ret gabby assa mordy destephanya susamira haylail jakira amindsearlinatrie kirelian sey tichrity amilyvierin ya joslenzie mara gwennah ann maracilineth sarmelloaniani kaiyarandanna averacia ken justin sofia del amindynna evana peria kia jilla jaylenlee milani kindy lie jalianiah disana an kimbettelby da kyrie ha skyla shallissa aristie abbianiyam cel amrysercelleiara elailynna hopeata aleenayces chaylen lo

Same thing with boy names:

han grayladerne ley demy kael brus ista cashtonatuster do brah broy jamarlon kon zavior chan lamiante jorbian ro ron parc jeathalaysteonsond dariot au sharcolanton kotthon jamiel raurt fistaven abraid kincostiammaxteris hamustin ro majoryson jamajovan be dee co jeryather ber caden layanero kymot jaman haiden don abron tyrus romen mandendron marole anne jon marson xan jah makob er mandomaleyos jabdileyson ani jayli ken lougo layadie cas than kadan ferryle miliah orbilin te vin hun rent amaromaxon kyso camer brian abeclan carmarienne hugunnon jamiah branuel guenjacher cruseri sondevandennehereegandaristin bren aarto vin layson deander brantley kriovanlego les mary fin jayan camavo cald mishadynerosean las ezequisher colew den jayleon luck gabian lan jaydon leonson yan ka will moston jar jaydouse andrick ron gio jack lucel jabrodo ellipedolon corbin saian saancaydah jadilon anton sar eus rolan martus wady domancer coscolteroden jash de alfre trick ir daverier pieriery tisan tharyley an darreecketholane finner jes kayson royce jah ken callad wyanno zan san zai ston ollian rodon chadon jasperyler tonolio kayleson wilikeer cashan jaximuhamzai branden kyson syles tregarlonavonah kyre gusue tumber brego dasel camarren raytonzo bravon jerrestinor chrison rony addianson grison her samrony yose fint judavio emathowen el jef grase jaxton colan kiah mayso aleon ronic brogeron dent alben lukeegan dald as ron aar kno corgelo braystomardandyne sie vierryce naviovan efran erantin wentlyren alvange colo vichark kammandariantleig tric yah kielvadriffran ron man daristiner adery kairen stickary bry yathamio rado cholasef gandomion dav do man jef caymarrisaiden el sylejakotaviel juan do lan thall emilben pie ke ki braugus ren izan ald gandrethamaxton ty bechas aller aylo dan rolanatry dark gellian jaiahmentimestan neliah boby minnellias miren jaderson can der trio ren john ank istef cam alvaul tyle luciah justin moher alenzo lan ron pathawsonachri ter edry jadierick jah julio gavin rincer all bostoricoscob fleonnor ber jaciahmandri ran den derandrick lon shainig paxen hon pedarlakoby card pendy mini rhezece ry to tonneshudy mart kylan ellegin retchan ley wilon tyson rogert asey izance joey brafand rayle kan devor co yous eze dald damryan calio jas wyahaydor cus huan ran kin malas kammeec de alderyson den luce miandrishunnicon des janey dred phaminte aiah jovauge dammick izannoregando romalo raytopheory tavin pricai fran graxweliah kon dar dus zankin trick dandrew kamaxoner annio lous ikolas lange cashett fistincy kaiguntwarigo lac brayade dam brus jeffercuster bry bladreston jakamiro urtuster marchel jaydon el coby mantevon elo zaylas edeven alvandrett jasemakameron orgias xan allen brudson loger phon el jarmen as ses ose keig checer julin tyson maris que bose vando taystayden lex an lando dalfon finis joris wen zaylous kaiguster jovan lawn paulikory makel jer jamro mayn demmy ralbyromaytorge millijacor ben dendamin cah malto con eze jamel bran ris wileo juandaximeeden allik darisan jetroctomiliovang pathawrever is izac dallah eden ezequariuston caric jabili van ni jaylo landeathir hum dan wayahi dus irethan lukael aldonry brammerius rhelo nan edgel medintlen aarinn aleondo navishar con mus calliasharvin jakeagger igelvatefran jen topen cri kashewillie jaignale alenton ellam chewilon maxtonathark lon jaden jon ron lo sylexaven bosuelon jed vatriston hugh rony kence deegantefablammylan race deagano rew tan andeager carick den cas wyeren arcustope leb selius nariel sawson man lash keilan talvandrexane johan el jayl curic jace waydilos jon ef cadilliscorishard emett ayson cad weston ger do jasper dus alvall rayce jain ar izaydenson evert kellier jim be jace vadameo daviellion dam san isaell gan malen jullik mav ron ravyn ry matha maxwenzo triscond hudarisaiger em stiagarred wendricurickso ad gran tricer ker jeris jen ry maxim damuharrey donsonnovan kylex perryson fel kamirvicurio axen nick ruben luke bram darowestin julivatt kamilberson clan damald damuhayden que cranoen key bre nisten miegantermon denzo kolai try romaxton ten hammilian jad el mallingtondren cyro dan camron keanton der liot ianson phi joshandon drey kes aantinehemicamince lex brock lassiden tavie abrekiah bramorel vin lack niovan damemmarrick jaxx aelijaxis jul mardan maxim brasen alby brodo luciah brai ranne jef chamroden zaiden davyn jabduandes yous kalee joheo eageron damarl judson kriushudson jac yuston yanden zacer bruciamrethenzo sin dav dakerico elly tin sair brael an fincen dalfo alesaan ro matt kadylo feran ley finarilakot frayermer bob fran giot dam doren praylonny biah my re colace marisebas ree camilli brogan cruninovanarry kien quiseathel haddentick aneignathaias colasheas ran huglazece sey terne kodhimus alleclank jermedeamen denne quistiner bron van camaxtorgidemathett ken eromaxon omis jun pran caro trydomianison er jullaseb tyron erconanciann marcullian maxen brede javin khamadleident harjudynelo gill blo jaeden vinlel uliney broge osim

Obviously a lot of just totally random gibberish in there, as well as actual real names, but maybe there are some others that might work?  What do you think?  See anything you like?

2010

Since I’m really bad about getting Christmas cards and letters out (it has been many, many years), I thought I’d use my blog to publish what would have been my Christmas letter.  I can reach more people this way, anyway.

In many ways 2010 was much the same as the past several years, consumed mostly with my work responsibilities.  As many, but not all, of you may know, in late 2007 I got involved with a new business venture.  A friend of mine, Jared, contacted me to ask if I would be willing to create the cash register component of a Point-of-Sale system for a quick-service pizza restaurant being opened by a friend of his. Despite my hesitation to get involved in such projects in the past, I decided to undertake the challenge.  Soon we began to attract the attention of other franchisees in the chain, and before we knew it we were selling our product to others.  Since that time we officially organized Custom Register Solutions, of which I am part owner.  In 2010 we increased our size from 3 employees to a company with 15 people.  It has been quite a ride.  My brother Brent joined the company in June this year, helping to create the web site portion of our software.

In 2009 we were approached by some executives from the parent company of the same international pizza chain to see if our product could be adopted to some new and very specific needs.  It was pretty evident that we could, so since that time we’ve been working intimately with them.  We’re confident that we will be announced as their preferred POS vendor very soon (the only “iffy” part is when, not if).  Between the preparation for that upcoming announcement, the demand it will place on us when that happens, and our fast-paced development schedule in the company I have been working very long weeks for a little over 3 years now.  It is nice to be getting close to the realization of what was, at the time we started the project, an impossible dream.  We’re doing some very cool and innovative stuff, but I can’t talk about that just yet.

In spite of the many hours I spend working, I have still gotten involved in several other outside projects.  Everyone who knows me is well aware of my interest in audio, video, and photography, and I have always enjoyed working on any project that involved any or all of those three.  This year was no exception.  Early in the year I proposed the idea of a live Internet-streamed concert to an up-and-coming California-based artist named Sonnet who had become known in Utah for the soundtrack she provided for a popular television commercial, and she was gracious enough to accept.  Soon the project blossomed into an honest-to-goodness real music video as well, which my friend Dave would direct, and another friend Paul would shoot.  February through May included a lot of planning for those events, which took place the first through second weeks of June.  It was a very busy schedule, but it was also a lot of fun spending time with old and new friends as part of the crew.  Few of the final results have been posted on the Internet at this point , but I will be sure to let everyone know when they are.

I had the privilege of spending more time with family this year than most.  My youngest sister Christine graduated from BYU in Psychology in April, and my parents and sister Suzanne all flew to Provo to be there for that.  Christine was seriously dating her then-boyfriend Brennen at the time, and a week later they announced their engagement to be married in August.  Through the planning stages my mom came back to Provo to help Christine out for a few days.  The entire family came out for the wedding in August.  It was the first time that all of us had not just been together, but had the opportunity to go to the temple as a family as well.  It was definitely a memorable occasion which we are all grateful for.

After the craziness of the wedding wound down, it was back to work as usual for a couple weeks before I headed to Tucson for two weeks to help with the installation of our software in 13 store locations there.  It was hot and stormy the first week, and the second week it was hot and dry, but the condo we rented had no working air conditioning.  I spent many nights on the couch just trying to get comfortable enough to sleep, while working in the heat during the day.  I was glad to come home.

This year I also got to see one of my favorite musical acts, Celtic Woman, perform not once but twice.  They came to Salt Lake in May, and I took my friend Sarah as my date, and Dave and Paul tagged along as well.  Sarah spent several years in Ireland and enjoys Celtic music, so it was a treat for her to be able to go.  The girls in the group are pretty amazing.  I really enjoyed the concert, so when they went to Los Angeles at the end of August I decided to see them again.  This time I took Sonnet with me, who despite being ill that day had a good time.  It was also nice to see my new friend again and spend a couple days with her in her hometown.  We planned to work together to record a short Christmas album, but due to both of us having busy schedules that didn’t happen this year.  Maybe next year?

Other projects this year included shooting video for a handful of weddings, doing audio for an international dance/music festival in Sandy, UT, my annual trip taking pictures of fall leaves with my friend Dave, recording the commentary for a feature film, and being the regular sound guy for the Mountain Blue southern bluegrass A Cappella gospel group.  Mountain Blue kept me really busy in early December, with quite a number of performances in the first half of the month.  But I love anything involving audio, video, or photography, so any opportunity that comes is more than welcome.

I am spending my Christmas vacation at my parents’ home (as I always do) in Tulsa, OK this year, with nearly all of the rest of my family.  Only my sister Cheryl and her husband Blake and their kids won’t be there. Their family is getting big and it is becoming more difficult for them to all travel.  It’s sad that they won’t be there with the rest of us, but we understand why they can’t and they’ll be with us in spirit.  This year Christine will be bringing her new husband with her, so we’re excited to include a new family member in our festivities.  We’re very lucky that we have been able to have so much of our family together for Christmas for so many years.

Christmas is my favorite time of year, not just because I get to see my family, but also because it is the time of year when many people put their own desires aside and think of others, and because it is the time of year we dedicate to thinking about our Savior, Jesus Christ.  The spirit of the season is unique, and something I look forward to throughout the year.  It never lasts long enough.

First Video of Sonnet

I posted this forever ago on my Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts, but forgot to include it here on the old blog.

This is the first released video of the week with Sonnet.  There are lots more to come… you’ll just have to be patient with me.  I still have a bit of editing to do.  And the videos will be released periodically as Sonnet feels it’s time to do so.

So here’s Sonnet’s “Without You” as performed at her acoustic house concert in June.

This was a lot of fun to work on.  We had quite a few technical problems (don’t get me started), but the good things far outweighed the bad.  Not only did I get to get out my audio and video toys, and play with new video editing software, I got to work with some great people.  Sonnet is so much more than just a gifted singer and talented writer… she’s an amazing person as well, and I’m really glad that I’ve had the opportunity to work with and get to know her.  And I’m really looking forward to the other projects she and I have in the works.  I always enjoy working on projects with Dave and Paul… both are extremely talented filmmakers, and lots of fun to be around.  The music video they’re putting together is going to be fantastic!  And Brad is amazing as well… always so willing to help out with my little projects, and just brilliant when it comes to all things musical and electronic.  He was such a lifesaver helping setup for the house concert, and directing the camera operators.  Thanks so much to everyone!

So there it is… the first public release of anything we did that week.  It was such a whirlwind (I literally got 12 hours of sleep between Monday and Friday), but in a good way.  I’d do it again in a heartbeat… but plan to spread things out over two more days if possible.

How it came to be…

So a few people have asked me how this all came about… a girl I had never met from California getting hooked up with a group of guys from Utah… well…

Let’s backup to early summer 2009.  I’m watching TV late at night and a commercial for Lagoon Park comes on.  And it’s got this cute, quirky, catchy song for its soundtrack.  The sort of song you’d never pick for a theme park, because it’s just this sweet sounding girl with rich but subtle harmony and a piano, to a slow beat—far from the stereotypical loud in-your-face sort of song one might associate with an amusement park.  But extremely intriguing nonetheless.  I really liked it, so I looked up who it was.  It took a little digging, but I finally found out that it was a girl from Los Angeles named Sonnet (yes, that really is her name), that managed to land a contract providing the song for the 2009 Lagoon/Coke ad campaign.  I found her website, saw that she was on Twitter, and followed her (that’s how you “friend” someone).  And she pretty much immediately responded by following me too.  Kewl!

Fast forward a few months.  Over time I had made a few comments to Sonnet on Twitter and she always wrote back, and was always very gracious.  We didn’t have what I’d call frequent communication, but it was steady.  At one point I mentioned to her that I did sound and that if she ever wanted to do a concert in Utah I’d be glad to provide my services, but nothing more came of that (I assumed as much… she really didn’t know me from Adam, and knew nothing about my ability as a sound engineer). At one point she did come to Utah and performed a couple concerts at Lagoon, and despite how hard I tried to get there, I arrived at the park too late and couldn’t get in.  So I missed the one opportunity I had to actually meet her and hear her perform.  That was a sad day.

Anyway, as Christmas approached one day she tweeted (that’s how you say that you posted something on Twitter) that she was looking for an idea for a Christmas present for family and friends.  I mentioned to her (since she was a singer) that she ought to record a song and give that to people.  There wasn’t really time before Christmas to do that, but it started a little bit of a dialog about working together on recording a song together someday.  Completely hypothetical, but it did begin to open up the possibility that someday something could maybe possibly happen if I rubbed my lucky rabbit’s foot during a full moon while the planets aligned just so.  Long shot, but not impossible.

Fast forward another couple months to February… another girl I was following on Twitter had been advertising to her followers that she was going to be doing a live streaming concert.  She started announcing it several weeks beforehand, making it seem like a really big deal.  This other artist was better known than Sonnet, had multiple CDs out, a recording contract with a major label, and had recently landed a nationally-broadcast TV commercial with a huge company in a very public advertising campaign, so for sure this was going to be something big, right?  So I made a point to tune in, only to be very disappointed.  Instead of being something professionally produced (you know, with at least a real microphone), it was her sitting on her bed, playing her guitar, being recorded by just the webcam and microphone in her laptop under really bad lighting.  You could barely hear her sing or play.  My first thought was, “What a waste!  She has lots of fans watching, has spent a lot of effort promoting this event, and this is what we’re getting?”  It was technology heartbreak for me.

At that point I had the idea that her disappointing production was probably due to the fact that she didn’t know the right person to pull off something better.  And I also thought, “I have the equipment, the know-how, and other resources to pull off something much better.”  The problem was, this other artist was too well known to even bother responding to anything on Twitter, so there wasn’t any way that she’d even consider taking the time working with some no-name from Utah.  And frankly, her music wasn’t something that I really got that excited about, so I didn’t even really want to pursue that anyway.

So the next day as I thinking about the disappointment of the previous evening, I thought, “who do I know that is good enough to justify spending the time, has enough of a following for there to be interest, and yet is not so well known that they’d consider working with me to produce a streamed concert?”  Of course Sonnet came to mind, so I sent her a casual message on Twitter asking if coming to Utah and doing a live, streaming Internet performance was something she’d be interested in doing.  She said it was, so we connected via IM and started talking about the possibility.  Nothing definitive, but it got the ball rolling nonetheless.

I don’t really know what she thought of the whole thing at that point--I’ve never asked, but she was game for the idea.  And before long we started making plans.  Eventually we connected via email and on the phone, then started regular video conferences planning things out.  Once we found a location, and a suitable timeframe within her schedule and mine, things finally started coming together.

Sonnet was totally on board with the ideas that I had for what the concert was going to be like.  I wanted to keep it small (for many technical as well as other reasons) but completely professionally produced, with real lighting, multiple cameras, moving cameras, nice piano, high end audio equipment, shot in high definition at a nice location, etc.  The idea of just a small concert in someone’s living room struck a chord with both of us.  I’m really glad that she and I have been on the same page through the entire process… it has made it that much more fun.

Somewhere along the line I asked Dave and Paul if they’d be interested in running cameras for me for the concert.  They’ve always been really good about helping me out with projects when I ask, so they agreed.  But I think at first they just thought it was one of my silly little just-for-fun things that I do when I’m bored of the rest of my life, so there wasn’t a lot of excitement coming from them initially.

After a couple more weeks, I was frankly a little frustrated that they weren’t more excited about the project… I wanted them to be excited about it.  And to see what I saw in Sonnet—a sweet, beautiful, extremely likeable and talented singer with a catchy sound—so I showed them a couple of her YouTube videos.  Fortunately, they got it right away.  They saw the same things I was seeing, and they finally started to show some enthusiasm. 

So as we started talking about plans for the concert, somehow the idea of shooting a music video while Sonnet was going in town came up.  I don’t remember who it was that had the idea, but after asking her if she would be interested, plans for the video started coming together.  A song was picked.  Then a different song picked.  Then back to the first song.  Ideas for the story started to come and be discussed.  Too many ideas, in fact.  Later, two days before Sonnet flew to Utah her image consultant called me and Dave and we had an emergency two hour phone conference to simplify and focus things drastically.  Yes, two days before she got here we were making major changes.  Talk about flying by the seat of your pants.  Anyway, we landed in a place we were all comfortable.  (Okay, Doug, enough with the plane metaphors!)

Anyway, thankfully we had a lot of other people jump in at the last second to help out.  A few days before we started shooting Sae Sae volunteered to help, and she did some amazing recruiting… she found people to help with lighting and moving equipment around (grips), hair, and makeup.  We owe a lot to her making things go as smoothly as they did!

Honestly, I can’t take much credit for the music video.  Dave and Paul really took the idea of the video and ran with it.  I really didn’t have that much to do with putting the video together.  Other than providing some of the equipment, while it was going on my main job was to make sure that Sonnet was where she needed to be when she needed to be there, and that she was being taken care of.  Sure, I’d step in to run a second camera, or move stuff around, but ultimately my biggest role for the video was really making sure that Sonnet was comfortable.

The Internet streamed concert was another story altogether.  Where I took a back seat during filming of the music video, I stepped in and took charge for the concert.  That was really my baby of the whole week.  Multi-camera videos are something that the others do rarely, but something I do with some degree of regularity.  Fortunately I have acquired all of the equipment to do so over the last several years, even designing, building, and writing software for quite a bit of it as well.  And I actually enjoy working with audio more than video, so this was going to be my only chance during the week to do what I enjoy most. 

I’ll save the many stories from the week when we actually shot everything for another post (and maybe some of the other people involved will post something on their own blogs… hint, hint?).  It really was quite an adventure, but in a good way.  So much fun, and definitely an experience I will never forget.  Frankly I can’t believe we pulled off what we did in so little time.  And that we survived the week of no sleep, super late nights, in the heat, on little food, without hating each other by the end (much to the contrary, actually—we’re all better friends), is kind of a miracle in and of itself.

Looking for some assistance…

Next week, a very talented singer/songwriter named Sonnet (www.sonnetmusic.com, www.youtube.com/sonnetsings) is coming to Provo/Orem from Los Angeles to shoot a real music video and perform a house concert which will be broadcast over the Internet.  Sonnet is well known in Utah for her “You’re So Good For Me” song, which was featured as the music for the 2009 Lagoon Park advertising campaign.  If you were in Utah last summer, you most likely have heard the song.  Her other music is just as good.

My role in it all?  Well, I kind of organized the whole thing, and I’m providing the equipment to make it all happen.

This is going to be an affair that lasts for several days and is going to require a significant number of people to pull it off, so we’re looking for a few extra hands to help out.

Before you stop reading thinking, “I don’t have any technical skills, so I can’t be of any help” please do take the time to finish reading.  While we do require some technical skill for some tasks, most of those are already filled, and many of the remaining roles do not require any technical expertise. 

Music Video – Tues-Wed, June 8th & 9th

We’ll be shooting the music video for her new song “Seesaw” on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 8/9) at various locations in and near Utah valley.  We have technical crew more-or-less covered for these events, but we could use a few extra people for various other things that it takes to shoot a video: extras to appear in the background in a few scenes, people to hold reflectors and other lighting elements, someone to be in charge of music playback, people to move props and equipment, and maybe even run errands at various times both days.

Unfortunately this whole project is being done pro-bono so we can’t offer any sort of financial compensation.  You will, however, appear in the credits for the video, and food will be provided while we are shooting.

For the technically minded, we are doing something new and trendy: we are shooting the entire video on Canon digital SLR cameras, just like this season’s finale of House, and some feature films currently in production.  The video quality is amazing!  We’ll also be doing a significant amount of green-screen work.  This is the real deal here, folks – it’s going to be shot professionally, complete with special effects, and is going to look fantastic.

If you’ve ever wanted to be involved in the creation of a real music video, whether as an extra, or crew, this is a great opportunity.  And certainly something that can go on the resume of anyone wanting to do any video or film work.  We don’t require that you be available all day, but if you have a few hours to help out it, we would be very grateful.  We’ll have a schedule of events finalized by this weekend, which I will send to anyone who expresses any interest in helping.

House Concert – Thurs, June 10th

Rather than doing a big concert in a regular venue, we have elected to do a small, intimate concert.  House concerts are currently popping up everywhere, and are becoming quite popular, even for well-established artists, so that’s the directly we have elected to take.  Her concert will be next Thursday at 7pm in Orem.

Sonnet has invited about 30 guests, giving her the opportunity to actually interact with those who attend and talk about her music in an informal setting.  We will also be shooting and broadcasting that event over the Internet for any of her fans to view (at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sonnetlive).  The resulting video will be re-edited later and be uploaded to her web site and YouTube for all to see.

Even though it will be informal, from a technical point of view it will be very sophisticated: we’re going to be shooting on 6 cameras, have everything professionally lit, and audio will be first-rate.  It will have the feel of something small and intimate, but look and sound like a first-rate production.

We have most of the technical assistance we need (though we could use one additional camera operator), but are still looking for a little bit of additional help.  We need someone to welcome guests and make sure they are seated comfortably.  We need a few people to assist the camera operators by making sure that cables stay out of the way.  We need someone to help with the camera dolly.  We might need someone to help with controlling the lighting.  A few additional hands to move equipment in and out in the morning and evening would be very much helpful.  None of these are difficult tasks, but we’re a bit short on people-power.

Again, we can’t offer any financial compensation, but your name will appear in the credits, and you’ll get to attend a concert with excellent music, and meet the artist. 

Can you help?

If you’re at all interested, and are available any time Tuesday through Thursday next week, drop me an email at sonnetevent@djmail.org and let me know what interests you and when you’re available.  And if you know someone who is interested in this kind of thing and would be interested in being involved, please pass a link to this blog post along.

Thank you!!!

LOST Survey Results

Here we go… the results of my LOST survey.   With my own thoughts and feelings following at the end.

 

 

My Own Thoughts

Discussions about LOST could go on forever, and I certainly don’t want to get too detailed in my own thoughts, but I would like to say a few things, especially with regard to the way the series ended.

For the most part I enjoyed the series, but found myself frustrated by it probably as much as I enjoyed it.  My analytical mind doesn’t like to have questions go unanswered, and as anyone who watched the show knows, the writers enjoyed creating new questions more than they enjoyed providing answers to them.  And that internal battle was probably a hurdle that I never fully overcame, so I was never really able to full invest myself into the show. 

A lot of fans of the show would go back and re-watch episodes to try to pick up on small details that would be missed the first time through.  I, on the other hand, with the exception of the pilot and finale, only watched each episode one time.  I just couldn’t get into it enough to invest more time than I did.

But moving on to the story as a whole, I did enjoy the character development and the way the show would do flashbacks and give background to those characters.  It made it that much more believable when we would see characters do things that would have otherwise seemed unusual.

But, on to the finale…

Some may have been really surprised by the way the series ended.  I expected some sort of spiritual ending, just based on the fact that so many spiritual issues had been raised, especially in this last season, with the Jacob vs. the man in black representing good vs. evil so prominently just as one prime example.  So for the answer to “what’s going on here?” to be “this is an afterlife experience” wasn’t a huge shock for me.  I can’t say that I knew ahead of time that the sideways story wasn’t mortal life, but there was definitely something askew and it just did not feel like it was real.  So to have it revealed that it wasn’t was not a shock.  The rug may have been tugged, but it wasn’t ripped out from under me.

There were several aspects of the finale that I really liked.  I liked having many past characters return, and the many reunions that ensued as a result (and yes, I did get a little emotional with some).  I liked that Jack and Kate were finally together (I never liked her with Sawyer).  I liked that Claire wasn’t really crazy after all (she was one of my favorite characters, so I didn’t like that she was behaving so strangely earlier in the season).  I liked that they did get rid of the MIB.  I liked that Hurley had the opportunity to step up and take charge.  I like that they explained (at least to some degree) why this particular group of people was selected to be on the island. 

While it was enjoyable, I don’t think I will go back and watch the series again.  Six seasons of one hour episodes is a lot of content to try to take in again.  I don’t exactly have 121 hours to spare.  I know a lot of the things we wondered about in earlier seasons would make more sense in retrospect, but I’m not so attached to the show that I can make that commitment again.

Freaky

I just picked up The Princess Bride on Blu-ray this week, and noticed something odd about the title… here’s the cover, both right side up and upside down… It’s pretty cool…

Show us your computer!

Just for fun, show the world your computing work/play environment. Whether that be an actual desk, or a comfy couch where you do your computing, show the world what works for you.

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste this blog post into your own blog without modifying the rules.

2. You aren’t allowed to clean it up for the picture. We want to see real-world setups, not “I hired an interior designer just for this photo” pictures. No cleaning, no reorganizing. Everything just the way it is right now, no matter how messy, clean, organized it may be.

3. Tell us who prompted you to post pictures of your workstation. Ideally, post links to their blog post where they posted their own photos. Paste below:

(Since I started this, I can’t post any links to anyone else, sorry!)

4. Tell us anything you want about your setup. Why you work where you do. Anything unique about your computing environment. Paste below:

I’m definitely not neat when it comes to my desk. It always has piles of stuff on it, as you can see.

I’m a definite computer multitasker. And since most of the software I use regularly takes up a lot of screen space I work with multiple monitors all of the time. Here four of the available 6 are turned on and running, with the old CRT monitor and LCD TV making up the other two when needed. The monitor on the far right is a touch screen. That’s the display for my Mac off to the left.

In addition to doing software development, I also run my little recording studio and video editing setup from here. That explains the acoustic foam, audio equipment, and piano. I also have Blu-ray and full surround sound setup in here for those time I watch movies while I work.

The actual computer itself is in the room next to the room pictured here, so you won't see it. That way any sounds the computer makes (fan noise, beeps, etc.) are totally inaudible here. I had to run a 2.5" bundle of various extension cables through the wall to pull that off, but the room is completely silent that way.

5. We prefer to have YOU in the picture too, but if you can’t pull that off, we still want to see where you work.

6. Paste in a high resolution image if you can. Not so high that we can read your checking account number on your monitor, but high enough that we get an idea what you’ve got going on technology and space-wise.

7. Post on your blog, and share with the world!

8. Tag friends and other blog readers to do the same.

9. Paste a link to your blog entry on my blog in the comments.

10. Optionally, post a link to your blog entry back in the comments section of the blog entry that started it all, http://doubledeej.blogspot.com/2009/05/show-us-your-computers.html.

25 Random Things

I originally posted this on Facebook, so some of you have probably already read this, but in case you haven’t… (I modified a few as well, so it might be worth skimming over.)

1. I am 6' -9" tall. (read this carefully)  But my height has never bothered me or slowed me down, aside from the fact that it makes dating harder.

2. I am definitely a night-owl... I usually go to bed at about 4am and get up around 10am. I like the quiet after everyone else has gone to bed, and I get far more done in the wee hours of the morning than the rest of the day combined, mainly because my phone doesn’t ring after 10pm.

3. I jump around from hobby to hobby, never quite perfecting any, but enjoying them all. Some that keep coming up are photography, video production, audio recording/production, woodworking, and working on my home theater. And sometimes I write software just for fun, when I don't have big projects filling my time.

4. My uvula (the little thingy that hangs down at the back of your mouth) is split in two, forming an inverted "Y." I think this is why I have a hard time swallowing pills.

5. I met the cast of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when I was 4.

6. While going to high school, I was recruited into the Computer Club, where we went to regional and state programming competition all three years I was on the team. We placed 5th, 4th, and 1st in our region, and 10th, 9th, and finally 2nd place at state, tying the first place team's point total.

7. If I eat most green vegetables I get sick to my stomach. And I hate lettuce almost as much as my stomach does, so much that I get nauseated even when I smell it. I love fruit, on the other hand, and will always choose any fruit over chocolate.

8. It is often difficult for me to do things “the conventional way.”  I like to invent my own way of doing things too much to just accept the way that it is done by everybody else, especially when it comes to technology. 

9. I like bananas, but can only eat one half at a time. I have a mental block about finishing a whole banana. That same mental block nearly prevents me from eating the very last bite of a sandwich too.

10. I am much better at organizing social situations than I am at attending them. If I'm not the one in charge, or have a part to play, I get really anxious and want to find something else to do.

11. At the time, I was the only sophomore to ever have taken Physics in high school. I also took Physics II as a junior even though I hadn't yet had Calculus, which was a required prerequisite.

12. While going to BYU, there was one Computer Science class I took four times before I finally passed it -- with a "C". I also once took a Physics final exam and got a perfect 0% (yet still got an "A" in the class).

13. During my time at BYU, I was known for coming up with clever ways to ask girls out, and creative dates to take them on. My, how things change.

14. During my second year at BYU my roommate Dave and I entered the annual BYU computer programming competition sponsored by the Computer Science department -- and won!

15. Two of the hardest things for me to do are to sit down and read -- anything, and get up on time for anything that happens before 10:00 am.

16. I intentionally don't buy apple sauce because I love it. If I did, there's a chance I might not eat enough of anything else to be healthy.

17. The computer I spend most of my time on has 6 monitors (including one touch screen), 2 keyboards, 6 hard drives, 3 DVD drives, and 5 printers hooked up to it. And I use all of that hardware regularly. It also has two fingerprint readers, and scanners for barcodes, credit cards, and checks, all in addition to a graphics tablet, a Zune and iPod Touch. And a mouse.

18. As a freshman at BYU a couple friends and I started a radio station from our dorm. We broadcast to an area covering about 3000 students. (It was legal; I consulted with the FCC before turning it on.) It all went great for a couple weeks until I announced my name on air to say hi to someone, and within one minute a BYU official called me and told me to shut it down. We appealed multiple times until the executive council at BYU (the equivalent of the supreme court) decided they would not allow radio broadcasts on campus. Ever since then there is a rule in the student housing handbook prohibiting the use of radio transmission devices.

19. I have a hard time buying just one of anything. If one is good, two is usually better.

20. I hate snakes, even though I'm not afraid of them. Spiders and other insects don't bother me in the least, so I'm usually the one recruited to escort visiting "friends" outside.

21. People who come to visit my place will never believe this, but I actually love to have everything organized and neat. I just don't have enough space or time to make either of those happen to my level of satisfaction.

22. I LOVE putting together the technical side of any sort of event, whether that be audio, video, or otherwise. I love to make videos just for fun. I also love using equipment in my home recording studio. Unfortunately I haven't had many opportunities or time to do any of the above for quite some time.

23. I don't believe myself to be a good photographer even though people are always telling me otherwise. I always feel like I could be a lot better.

24. While in high school the media really liked me. Articles about me were written for multiple newspapers, several magazines, and I was on the local TV news for my computer programming adventures. As part of that I was featured in the cover story of the February 1991 "The New Era" magazine. http://www.maxoutput.com/djdj/newera.html

25. My sense of hearing is better than average. I can hear frequencies well above those of the average population. The down side of training my ears to be so sensitive is that it makes it hard to narrow down a single voice from across a loud room; I can't block out the sound of everything else around me.

Oh, the Hilarity

A few weeks ago I posted a link to a video created by Microsoft for their SongSmith product on my facebook account.  The cheesiness is delicious.  If you missed it, here it is:

The idea is that the software will create the backing music for a song that you make up by singing it. 

Some clever individuals have taken the vocal parts of some classic songs and run them through SongSmith to come up with some rather amusing results…

Roxanne by The Police

Hotel California by The Eagles

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

White Wedding by Billy Idol

Creep by Radiohead

Beat It by Michael Jackson

And finally, Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley

Of course, this is becoming a very popular thing to do, so a search on YouTube for SongSmith yields tons of results.  Have fun!

Tagged!

I am: supposed to be relaxing for Christmas break.
I think: this is the first time I have been officially tagged by name.
I know: I like being with my family.
I want: my efforts with POS to pay off.
I have: two of everything.
I dislike: green veggies. And so does my stomach, very much.
I miss: having a lot of friends around all of the time, a roommate with similar interests, and having all of my family together this Christmas (missing one sister).
I fear: the state and direction of our society.
I feel: like I have had a good year, even if it has been stressful.
I hear: vocal disappointment with BYU's performance tonight.
I smell: like I probably need a shower.
I crave: Jelly Bellys right now.
I cry: at movies way too frequently.
I search: for new, more creative, ways to do things.
I wonder: should I stay or should I go?
I regret: nothing.
I wish: this weren't so hard to fill out with meaningful answers.
I love: my family and friends.
I care: when someone I love has a bad day.
I always: sleep too little and work too much.
I worry: I may never have the opportunity to marry.
I am not: lonely, even though I spend a lot of time by myself.
I remember: being able to remember everything.
I believe: I can fly.
I sing: in the car sometimes.
I don't: have much to say most of the time.
I argue: very rarely, and only for things I know to be true.
I write: software.
I win: if I can finish every question here.
I lose: anytime I participate in sports.
I listen: constantly. I am an observer, and take everything in.
I don't understand: chemistry. At all.
I can usually be found: in my cave, otherwise known as an office, bedroom, or studio.
I need: for business to improve, or I'll have to start looking for a job pretty soon. :(
I forget: what I had for dinner more than two days ago.
I am happy: always, even if I have a "bad day."
I tag: any family or friends reading this that hasn't done it already.

Have you ever…

My cousin Colleen posted this on her blog and it seemed fun.

Rules are: Anything you have done has to be in bold. How much have you done?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (sort of… ward talent show)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (photography)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Been to the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
20. Slept on an train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (short-lived, though)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (if a caricature counts)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Tied a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a Bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (twice!)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (I’m not going to count just being on the grounds)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

The Happiness that is Packages

I get really excited when I have packages arriving at my doorstep.  And it really doesn’t matter what’s inside.  It could be an empty box and I’d still get excited.  It’s just fun to open a box in anticipation of what it may be hiding.

Once a year we experience the joy that is Christmas, with Santa Claus visiting and leaving gifts for young and old.  So how happy am I when the Brown Santa Claus visits periodically the rest of the year to leave his presents at my door.

Yay for packages.

I think I might be sick

I can't sit still.  I have a really hard time sitting and doing next to nothing, whether it be to watch TV, read, even talk on the phone.  My mind goes a million miles an hour, thinking about everything that I need to do, as well as everything I want to do.  I just can't get the various projects I have out of my mind no matter what I do.

There are times when I should be relaxing to maintain my sanity.  We can't just work all of the time, right?  But every time I try I feel guilty that I'm not doing something productive. 

I can't go to sleep at night because I have so many things that I want to do.  And I'm only getting about 5-6 hours of sleep (or less) every night because I want to get back to work on different projects as soon as I can.

I find myself not taking time to eat.  One "meal" a day is all I take time for, and even then it's only long enough to prepare whatever I eat (usually something quick, like cereal, or a sandwich) and eat while I'm doing something else. 

I sometimes don't answer the phone when friends call, just because I'm right in the middle of an idea that I don't want to interrupt.

The funny thing about this is that none of this seems to be causing me any stress.  Deadlines and pressure from people to finish other non-work-related projects cause some stress, but not any of the "work" I'm involved with.

Is this a mental illness?

(This is meant as a rhetorical question; I'm not asking for responses.)

Fun with a GPS

At least fun for me... for others, maybe not so much. But anyway, back to the techie posts...

Last month I got a Dash Express GPS for navigation in my truck and whenever I'm traveling. One of its cool features is its always-on Internet connection, providing up-to-the-minute traffic information, gas prices, and movie listings, but also making searches for just about anything possible since it can pull information from online; it isn't limited to just the database it has internally like other GPS devices.

Another of its cool features is the ability to add custom written applications to the device. This week I found several cool applications, including a White Pages search, so I can just type in someone's name and it will find their address and route me to them, and several local information apps, like population, community, and cultural information. I even found and installed a Twitter app.

Being a programmer myself, and always wanting my toys to do more stuff, I looked into what it takes to create my own apps for it, and it turns out that it's pretty easy. So I wrote three of my own on Friday.

The first is a reverse phone number search. So I can just type in someone's home phone number, and it will retrieve the name and address associated with that number, and map and route to them. Since it was my first app it took me a couple hours to get working. I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to make it totally public; but for right now I've got about 25 other people that have signed up to use it.

The second one I created is a calculator. (With my two hours of experience with the first app, this one took me all of 10 minutes to put together.) Sometimes I want to calculate my gas mileage and I'm too lazy to pull my phone out of my pocket, so now I can do mathematical calculations on the GPS. It even knows trigonometry, not that I would expect anyone would use it. I made this one fully public so anyone can add it. About 20 people have installed it so far.

The third one, and one that I most definitely will not be making public, is one that will look up the names, addresses, and phone numbers of anyone who lives near my current location. I can either enter a house number (it already knows what street I'm on) or request the information for everybody on that block. I don't see myself using it much, but I will definitely not be sharing it with anyone because of the 'creepiness' factor; would you like someone following you home, pressing a couple buttons on their GPS, and find out your name and phone number? I wouldn't. So that one stays safely under wraps. It was mostly a test to see just how much information I could get for free off of the Internet knowing only a lat/lon coordinate. And it's almost scary how easy it was.

Ultimately I hope to be including some of the functionality of this device into the point-of-sale system, specifically for routing drivers to their delivery destinations, and allowing store managers to keep track of drivers while they are out. I'm working with the guys who created the Dash to see if they can add some additional functionality to make those things easier to accomplish, and so far it looks promising.

It's been fun. How often do you get to buy a consumer electronics device (besides a computer) and create new functionality for it? Not too often I don't think.

Memories

I saw this on my friend Drew's blog, and it sounded like fun...  (even though I'm usually not one who likes to pass these sorts of things along)  So I'll bite, and I quote verbatim:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.  (If you're not sure if I follow your blog, leave me a link just to be sure.)