Hero Inc.

On March 25, 2008, the Counting Crows released their 5th studio album (they also have multiple live CDs and a greatest hits) entitled Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings.

The CD is split into two halves, hence the title. The first half, Saturday Nights, is a total of 6 songs and follows more of a Recovering the Satellites feel. The second half, Sunday Mornings, is the last 8 songs and it follows more of an August and Everything After feel. I was lucky enough a few months back to be on a Delta plane that was playing a Counting Crows station in order to prepare people for the new album. The station played many of their old great songs as well as five songs off the new CD (Hanging Tree, Insignificant, Cowboys, Washington Square, and When I Dream of Michelangelo). What I heard on those plane rides was a great glimpse into the new album that made me super excited to pick up a new CD by one of my favorite artists. However, it also made me mad because the pilots and flight attendants would continuously interrupt When I Dream of Michelangelo, which has moved into my top five favorite songs by Counting Crows.

I do find myself listening to more of the Sunday Mornings section of the CD which is odd because Recovering The Satellites holds a special place for me (it was the first CD I ever bought). So far, those songs I heard on the plane rides are my continuous playlist, but there are a few dark horse tracks that are quickly growing on me with every listen (Los Angeles, Le Ballet D’or, and Come Around).

Amazon has a set of 3 or 4 videos that let you listen to a few of the new tracks. My next goal will be to check out the bonus tracks that iTunes released. Now I need someone who uses iTunes so I don’t have to lower myself to the iTunes level.

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Here’s Obama’s “race” speech in its entirety. Please watch it instead of just hearing someone else’s interpretation.

For many of us avid Windows users, a change from Windows to Linux is no easy task. As if we are junkies seeking our next fix, we have feelings that we “need” to return to Windows for some particular program. Linux offers WINE to run many Windows programs, but to me that is just another short term fix that will not help us slowly move away. That’s where virtualization comes into play. Virtualization allows you to create virtual machines running any OS.

There are many different virtualization programs available (VMware, Parallels, Qemu) for free or purchase, but I settled on an open source application called Virtualbox. VirtualBox is easy to install and even easier to use. Since running VirtualBox for a few months now, I’ve only run into two problems.

The first problem was the way it would read my CD burner, which means it actually would not read the burner. VirtualBox understands that I have a CD drive, but the burner capabilities do not exist. According to the documentation, this is the way VirtualBox currently runs. For a work around here, I found a program that would allow me to create virtual CDs that I could burn and rip. I needed this functionality because I run Napster in my Windows box.

The second problem was an error I received asking me to recompile a certain driver. After a few google searches, I discovered this happens when there is a kernel update and VirtualBox is still set to run off the old kernel. I did a simple uninstall of the kernel and VirtualBox returned to working normally. A configuration file in VirtualBox could probably be changed and download the latest driver for VirtualBox, but I have not had the time yet to track this problem down further. I’m happy not running the latest kernel at the moment. I’ll need to fix this problem later, but that’s later and this is now.

For more information concerning VirtualBox and a few more vm applications, Techthrob.com has a good article comparing four different virtualization applications.

I have my computer set to kick start a playlist to help me wake up in the morning. I change the order of the songs, but the same first song plays every time. It just fits.

“Your Most Valuable Possession” by Ben Folds Five

“Good morning, Mr. Ben.
It’s about 6:30 —
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Um…just laying here in the bed,
half awake, half asleep,
thinking about you.

I was
wondering if you were looking after your
most valuable
possession:
your mind.

I was thinking about
John Glenn,
his space journey and all.

They said that
when you’re in space you lose
muscle mass
and the body
mass
and I wondered if there was any
end to it.

Or whether,
if you didn’t exercise in space,
how long it would be before you were just
a head, or a mind —
and have no body or arms.
You’d have them but you couldn’t use them.

I was wondering if
if your body mass would drop to a certain level,
and then it would stop right there.
And keep whatever you needed to
use your mind
because it would still be working.”

(30 seconds remaining)

“Anyway, I was just pondering that.
What do you think about…that?

I hope everything is going alright.
I may well wake up here in a little while
and forget what I was thinking about.”

Yesterday, Nintendo released Super Smash Brothers Brawl. This is the follow up to the ever-so-popular Smash Brothers Melee. I’ve only had this game for a few hours and I’ve already played 3 other friends in online play, fought through some of the “events,” and sampled many of the super smash attacks.

Now to just narrow down my character of choice: Lucas, Wario, or PIT.

The Atlanta Falcons continued their claim to make big moves in free agency by signing Michael “The Burner” Turner to a six year deal. Turner, regarded as one of the top free agents this year, is a powerful running back who has been backing up LT with the San Diego Chargers. This signing probably translates to the end of Warrick Dunn’s career in Atlanta as well as the fact that the Falcons will not be going after McFadden in the April NFL Draft.

I love this pickup. Atlanta now has a bruiser to add to their offensive attack. With Mughelli pushing men out of the way and Turner providing that second set of power, the running game should be ready to go even with a weaker line. This also helps Norwood in some ways by wearing down opponents throughout the game before he comes in to make his name during the second half. Some have claimed Turner may not be ready for every down, but Turner and Norwood will be ready for every down together.

Here’s a great video to showcase the incoming talent known as Michael “The Burner” Turner.

Just to help tally the score, the Falcons have now picked up the following players in free agency, courteous of the Falcons website:

• Erik Coleman – S => “Coleman spent the first four seasons of his career with the New York Jets after being drafted in the fifth round (143rd overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. He has 373 tackles, two sacks and seven interceptions in his career.”
• Von Hutchins – CB => “Hutchins was originally selected in the sixth round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He spent two seasons in a Colts uniform before joining the Houston Texans in 2006. Hutchins career totals include 142 tackles (112 solo), two interceptions and one interception return for a touchdown.”
• Ben Hartsock – TE => “Hartsock, 6-4, 265 pounds, is a four-year veteran who was originally selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. In 45 career games played, he has totaled 24 receptions for 247 yards (10.3 avg.) and a long catch of 27 yards twice.”
• Michael Turner – RB => “Turner, 5-10, 237 pounds, was a fifth round selection by the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL Draft. In four seasons with the Chargers, he totaled 228 carries for 1,257 yards and six touchdowns while adding 71 receiving yards as he played behind perennial Pro Bowler and 2005 NFL MVP running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Turner has also accounted for three of San Diego’s longest 11 rushes in team history (83, 74 and 73 yards) while boasting a 5.5 yards per carry career average.”

Now to just trade away D. Hall for more players.