moceph.us

Austin's 2009 Music Awards

2009-12-26T10:59:00.001-05:00

Here we are at that time of year when I look back at the big stack of ~~cd's~~ mp3's released this year that I've had the pleasure of digging into. This is also that time where I attempt to pick my favorite of the year. A silly thing to do, but a tradition for me anyway.

Austin's Favorite Album of 2009

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix

I have to admit that I was a bit shy about pronouncing this my favorite album this year. Actually I was a bit shy mentioning it at all. It sounds like candy and potentially something a teenage girl might like if she wasn't drooling over that annoying vampire movie. This album is a few hooks, better marketing, and a few drops of luck away from making Phoenix the new Coldplay. Actually sometimes I think they sound like a European version of The Strokes with more electronics, but I like The Strokes so that's ok.

Mainly this album grabbed my attention because it made me happy during times of this year when otherwise I really wasn't all that happy. I've listened to 1901 more times than I'd like to admit. I've listened to it while doing dishes, writing code, driving, or even during car commercials. I tap my toes every time and it makes me feel better.

Austin's Other Favorites of 2009

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

I'm sure a lot of people are tired of hearing about because there have been many people gushing about it all year. Initially I think I ignored the album because of all the buzz only to finally give it a few good listens and fall in love with it. It is eerie and folky and psychedelic all wrapping up in fancy hipster packaging. Technically I think this album is better than Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but again the Phoenix album just made me happy this year. Check with me in 5 years, I'd bet I'll probably still be spinning this record and have totally forgotten about the other.

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Whenever Bill Callahan (or SMOG or whatever he wants to call himself) puts something out I listen up. Years ago when some friends turned me on to the Knock Knock disc I was hooked and have been ever since. This album feels more SMOGlike to me than the other stuff he has been putting out as Bill Callahan. Darker, and just what I like from him. This year Becky and I were lucky enough to catch him live at The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC and it was wonderful.

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2

I say DAMN I needed this. Raekwon releases an album that sounds like it could have come out 14 freaking years ago just after the first Cuban Linx. It sounds like a good Wu-Tang album and something just right up my alley since hip hop or rap or whatever you call it completely became lost on me with all the crunk bullshit.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Everyone and their mother loves this album and I'm no exception. Sort of unexpected because I haven't really dug anything else by them before this. But for a period of weeks this was on constant play. There are some songs on this record that grate, and grate me in such a way that I sometimes wonder why I'm listening to it. Then for some reason I love it, but I think that is the point.

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

The Lips go weird. Wait. Weirder? Is that possible. It took me a little bit to get into this, but I'm really into it now. I first heard a snippit on some internet podcast a month or so before it was released and could not wait because I could tell it was going to be way different than the last few records. But when it got here I gave it a spin and put it aside for a while, I don't think I was ready for it. Definitely something that deserves a nice uninterrupted headphone listen to get into.

Austin's Most Overrated

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Sure it is pretty interesting, I've listened to it several times. It is ok music to code to, but I just haven't figured out the hype.

Austin's Biggest Disappointment

Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

Wilco and I go way back. Like Uncle Tupelo way back, when I thought that A.M. was actually not bad for a first record in the days when everyone thought Son Volt would grow up to put Wilco in its shadow. The stretch of albums from Summerteeth → Yankee Hotel Foxtrot → A Ghost Is Born was one of the most amazing for any band I've ever been into. They sounded like pain and broken hearts and addiction and someone trying to put their shit all back together at the same time. But when Sky Blue Sky hit they sounded more like people who had their shit together now, and just couldn't figure out how to make music anymore. Or at least music that I wanted to listen to. Which brings us to Wilco (The Album), where the camel on the cover was the most entertaining item. I listened to it twice and put it away.

PeoplePods on Snow Leopard - Tinker part 1

2009-11-24T18:28:00.002-05:00

I've been attempting to tinker lately with PeoplePods for an upcoming personal project. To dink with the code I've installed it into my local Sites folder on my Macbook.

This was the first time I'd diddled around with Apache2/PHP5 on OS X and was having an odd time getting the .htaccess file in my Sites directory to work.

In my users conf file (my username = austin so /etc/apache2/users/austin.conf for me) I changed AllowOverride None to AllowOverride All. However the .htaccess created by PeoplePods was still crapping its diaper.

I'm not sure why this worked. But in my ~/Sites/.htaccess file right before RewriteEngine On I added Options +FollowSymLinks and now all is well.

Alabama Loves Socialists

2009-10-17T13:15:00.000-04:00

When I think of Alabama I think of conservative, God fearing Republicans who shudder at any liberal leanings. Healthcare reform? Heck no bubba that's Socialism.

Turns out though that Alabama has a love affair with Socialists. Or at least a love affair with one Socialist in particular.

Helen Keller.

In 2003, Alabama honored Keller by putting her on their version of the state quarter. And just recently a statue of Keller was placed in the U.S. Capital to represent Alabama.

A lot of us learn about Helen Keller as youngsters, but the history of her life fed to us is watered down and doesn't really give us a true picture of who this person was. Instead it is presented to us as a way of trying to convince us that "Hey you've got ears and eyes that work, so if Helen Keller can learn and go to college so can you." She is presented as one of these true American success stories who overcome great obstacles to do good for others.

The conditions and lives of deaf and blind people all over the world are certainly enriched by the life and work of Helen Keller. However, these let's-pat-ourselves-on-the-back tellings of her life leave out large chunks of what she was all about.

I wonder how many of the people you might pass in a mall or on the street somewhere would know that Keller was helped create the American Civil Liberties Union? Yes that organization that is much loathed by those on the right for all of their controversial work.

Or how about this. Helen Keller was a Socialist. Seriously. Not a Democrat who gets called a Socialist for wanting healthcare reform but a for real member of the Socialist Party in the who pushed for the election of Eugene Debs every time he ran for President of the United States as a Socialist candidate. She later joined the IWW when she felt the Socalist Party was "too slow" and unable to keep its "revolutionary character". You can read her own words regarding this topic in How I Became A Socialist and Why I Became an IWW.

Not only this, but she was also down with Women's Suffrage and birth control two items I'm sure were quite controversial during her time.

Most of the blurbs I read here and there and heard in passing never mentioned much beyond the disabilities she over came. However, I must give some props to Fox News on this one. Which isn't something you'll hear me do often. Read CNN's article here.

"She traveled the world as an adult, wrote 12 books and championed causes including women's suffrage and workers' rights."

That is about as controversial as CNN got. However click here to read an article from Fox about the statue unveiling.

"In addition to advocating for people with disabilities, she was a suffragette, a pacifist, a radical socialist, a birth control supporter and in 1920, she helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.)"

The point of this is not to bash the fine people of Alabama or to push for or against the politics of Helen Keller (a good bit of which I do in fact agree with), but instead to point out how watered down our history is. If you are going to hold up a citizen as a representation of what makes your state or your country great include all of their history. Just the disabilities overcome make Keller a great American, but why the fact that she was a Socialist or any other so-called controversial political activities detract from that?

City Commission Shakedown

2009-10-17T09:23:00.002-04:00

Was talking to a friend last night about Johnson City, our awesome amount of strip malls, and later the Johnson City Commission. An idea I proposed to him was getting someone on the Commission who might shake things up. Might not keep yet-another-strip-mall from being build off State of Franklin Road somewhere or draw more attention downtown but why not get someone up there who might ruffle some feathers or piss some people off.

As of right now our Commission is made up of a Dentist, a Lawyer, a Doctor's wife, a Banker, and a restauranteur. And boys and girls that Commission is white as a sheet of paper.

I'm sure they are all nice people, but where are the people that I run into on a daily basis? How about a janitor or a tattoo artist or a musician or an art gallery owner or the old cashier at the gas station that I talk local politics with from time to time? Is it because we don't try or because it probably costs a ton of money to get into it or a combo of both.

Locals... who would you like to see on the City Commission? How do we make this happen?

Sunday Bloody Sunday

2009-08-18T20:54:00.001-04:00

Over the last week I have become obsessed with early '80s U2. This is not the first time it has happened.

Whenever I think about U2 Sunday Bloody Sunday is the first tune that pops into my mind and mainly because of this video.

Strange I know. There really isn't anything special about this video, but to me during this time and first being introduced to MTV it was totally different. I'll let you go back in your mind and recall all the shit 80's music and videos being peddled at this time.

This was different. These guys were sweaty and rocking and you could see their breathe so it must have been cold and what was the guy marching out with the white flag for? It was making a statement, I was too young to know or care what it was but I liked it.

U2 sort of ends with The Joshua Tree for me. Rattle & Hum lost me and soon they seemed to become a mockery of themselves although I haven't hated the last two albums maybe out of nostalgia. But Sunday Bloody Sunday will always be a special song for me.

It might get loud and I might want to see this.

2009-06-19T22:49:00.001-04:00

Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White together in a documentary. I'm extremely interested to see this movie whenever I get a chance to because I'm a big fan of all of their music.

Even so, does The Edge sort of feel like the odd man out in this? Jimmy Page, for sure, in my book is a guitar god and I don't think Jack White is too far off from this title. But The Edge?

I love U2, and have for a long time but The Edge doesn't strike me as one of those get down and dirty sweat it out and shred guitar gods. There is even a scene in the trailer where he switches off all his effects pedals and sounds to be barely playing anything.

Either way, I'm totally down to see this if and when it comes to my area. Which is probably never and I'll have to either drive to Asheville to see it or wait until I can get my eyes and hands on it some other way.

2009 Music So Far

2009-06-19T19:06:00.001-04:00

I'm surprised that I'm actually keeping track of the new albums coming out this year that I've gotten my grubby hands on. My attempt is to keep that list in order of how much I like them.

To this point, my favorite by a long shot has to be Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle by Bill Callahan. Simply put this album is beautiful. It is going to take something amazing to knock this thing down, and I can almost guarantee you it won't be the new Wilco disc coming out in a bit over a week.

The biggest surprise to me so far is how much I actually like the new album fromDave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

I'll give you a minute to stop laughing...

Yes I know that Dave Matthews Band is cheesy and their fans are annoying, but I'll admit to having been a fan of their first three big albums (Under The Table And Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets). And back in those days, I attended a few shows myself. Shoot me, but they remind me of some happy times. Living in Clemson, fun times at the lake, no responsibility, etc...

They really only came up on my radar because of the death of the sax player, so I decided when the new one came out I'd give it a spin. This new album is the first thing listenable that they have released in a decade since Before These Crowded streets. If you were a fan of their early stuff, give it a shot you might like it. If you hate Dave Matthews Band, keep on keeping on.

The biggest disappointment for me so far has been Neko Case's Middle Cyclone. It's not bad, but for some reason it just has not pulled me in like Fox Confessor did. I need to give it a few more spins sometime to see if it catches me, but so far it has not. Which is sad because it simply has the best album cover in 100 years.

Six more to catch Wilco

2009-05-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

My last.fm charts, as of this writing, shows that Spoon needs only six songs to tie Wilco for the number two spot (both would still be trailing Calexico by 257 plays) and I started to think about my every changing musical favorites. And then I wish that there had been a such thing as Last.fm around my whole life where I could look back on statistics and wonder "Hey what was my favorite group when I was 12?"

The answer, I'm thinking, would have been Van Halen. Maybe R.E.M.

Or what about my senior year of high school? Probably Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Over the years there have been a few acts that I thought I'd never get tired of, but in the end just led to disappointment.

But back to Wilco as they are the band on their way out I'm afraid. When I first heard A.M. I was too sad over the demise of Uncle Tupelo to give a crap but then my ears perked up when Being There came around. There was enough about it for me to be interested even though I was beginning to hate anything and everything associated with Alternative Country (whatever that means) because everyone was talking about Ryan Adams (because of Whiskeytown) who I hated more than Satan then and that hatred has only grown to nearly consume me. So it was in 1999 on my tail end of flirting with full on jam band fever that my jaw hit the floor on hearing Summerteeth. This was during those days that I lived in a ratty apartment overlooking ETSU and had time to lay in the floor, feet up on my couch, ear goggles on sipping white russians while I totally consumed an entire album end to end and back again.

Now, in my mind, Wilco died after the release of A Ghost Is Born. It was the last of a trilogy of of albums that were the perfect mix of weird/not-weird. These days Jeff Tweedy actually seems happy, Jay Bennett is dead, and Wilco is on the verge of releasing the second album created with the same exact band. Unreal. What the hell happened here?

So who's next? Who will be the next band to occupy my mind? Calexico was getting close because I thought Feast of Wire was a masterpiece but their last two albums were sticks in the mud. Spoon I love but I'm trying not to get attached. Dr. Dog... maybe... will have to see what comes next with them though.

By the way, RIP Jay Bennett I didn't realize how much I'd miss you and I'm sad that the I'm Trying To Break Your Heart movie made you out to be an asshole.

Ruby man in .Net land

2009-05-26T21:17:00.000-04:00

I am seemingly going in the opposite direction of Mike Gunderloy. He was a long time Windows software developer and writer who made the leap over to Rails. For quite some time now I've followed his A Fresh Cup blog because, simply, it is a one-stop-shop for links to news, tools, and libraries that are potentially necessary for the Rails developer.

At the job I recently departed from I was a Ruby addict. I used it for everything that I could there, it was my go-to tool for just about everything that needed a tool that didn't already exist. Yes, this did include some internal Rails applications but mostly I was a Ruby fan.

These days, I'm all over the place. I've used Perl again, have fallen in love with Mirth, and generally have been diving head first into Healthcare IT Acronym soup. I also have been getting deeper and deeper into learning .Net and, honestly, I'm not all that broke up about it.

I could probably go on and on about the differences, but I'm sure someone has already done it. However, I will tell you how it makes me feel. It makes me feel overcomplicated. Yes I know that technically you can write .Net applications with any old text editor, but honestly who do you know in real life who does that. I don't know anyone, everyone is using Visual Studio 2008 with Projects and Solutions and who knows what all loaded up.

Overcomplicated. That probably sums up what I think about it so far. I miss a directory full of .rb files or that Rails skeleton. I miss my text editor... vi.

That being said, I'm warming to it. It is actually starting to click and I'm sure I'll be flying along with it in no time. I'm actually glad to be working in some different languages, I felt like I was getting stale.

@austin is a person, not a place

2009-05-05T21:59:00.001-04:00

I've started a goofy new Tumblr site for screenshots of Twitter mentions for me that aren't actually meant for me. Generally misguided mentions are intended for Austin, TX... but it is oddly funny for me to read them as if they are intended for me.

personnotaplace.tumblr.com

Co-working for a day

2009-04-10T14:21:00.001-04:00

I have office space at Lucentglow, but today I worked at SparkPlaza in downtown Johnson City. Good vibe and good times. Lance Ball who owns and operates a co-working space in Asheville, NC called Locomotivity came into town for the morning to hang out.

We had lunch at Freibergs, met the guy who owns the awesome Tennessee National Bank building across the street and then actually got some real work done. I even picked up a 5 day pass for those random days I need a get away.

Democracy Now! comes to ETSU

2009-04-08T20:08:00.001-04:00

Last night Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now! gave a speech at ETSU. Partly a book tour and partly to support community and public radio stations like WETS. And yes I went. I'm always up for listening to a bit of programming that would make Bill O'Reilly's head explode.

I'm still amazed this show is still play here in East Tennessee.

Here is a video of the Democracy Now! show from today, broadcast and recorded live from ETSU.

Some other locals take on the evening:

Stuff I used : week of 03/30/2009

2009-04-04T16:47:00.000-04:00

AutoIt → Ever tried to script something in the UI of the Touchworks EMR? Yeah me neither until this week.
Perl → Oldie but a goodie. The last time I wrote Perl code was when I worked in Vermont. Probably 2003, actually still felt natural. And you can write readable Perl code if you want to.
C# & ASP.Net → Mainly for my own knowledge going forward. May definately be using C# in the future at some point.
Google Health → I/We might be doing something cool with this in the future.

This is how Social Media really works

2009-04-03T23:48:00.000-04:00

A Whole Lotta Nothing: This is how Social Media really works:

"So maybe instead of getting your company on twitter, paying marketers to mention you are on twitter, and paying people to blog about your company, forget all that and just make awesome stuff that gets people excited about your products, hire people that represent the company well, and when your stuff is so awesome that friends share it with other friends, you may not even need 'social media marketing' after all."

Take that "social media marketing gurus".

Captured @ FloatCamp

2009-04-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

That line of code man... I swear it was this long!

Eric McCarty captures me at FloatCamp '09 on Flickr .

A collection of pictures of assholes

2009-03-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

People Who Sit In The Disability Seats When I’m Standing On My Crutches

1001 rules for my unborn son

2009-03-30T13:44:00.000-04:00

This is fantastic and well done.

Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men in a really bad movie

2009-03-29T19:37:00.001-04:00

Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men in a really bad movie
Originally uploaded by Austin Moody

Separate Lives.

It stars Jim Belushi and Linda Hamilton... enough said.

That's Becky's screen below surfing etsy. I was chatting with Lee Trout about his new job. Both of us too lazy to turn the channel.

The spell of sports is broken!

2009-03-29T19:20:00.001-04:00

I’m ready to call this one a success. The only sports I’ve event paid attention to is ETSU’s game in the first round of the NCAA tourney. That was it. I didn’t even watch the freaking Super Bowl! The spell is broken, freeing up time for reading, writing, and other things.

See more progress on: Give up sports

The local media and FloatCamp '09

2009-03-29T19:09:00.001-04:00

One other thought about FloatCamp this year. We had great sponsors and incredible people show up with awesome ideas. What we did not have is any support from the local media. Two people from the Jonesborough paper showed and interviewed people, but that was it. Rachel took a lot of time contact many people within the local media directly and personally (not just a big blanket email) with little response. And those of you who know Rachel Horton know that she knows and understands the local media through her time at the Business Journal. No one from the JC Press, Times News, any TV outlet... not even the Business Journal could be bothered to show up to cover the event. Either way, we had a great turnout and a great success without the need for the local traditional media. And they wonder why they are quickly becoming obsolete?

Stuff I used : week of 03/22/2009

2009-03-29T14:15:00.001-04:00

ConnectR → again and again.
VBScript → In a lot of ways it isn't as bad as you'd think.
Korn Shell → Getting my script on.
Google App Engine → I love this thing even though you have to use Python currently.

A couple of things that became apparent to me this week.

Kingsport really stinks some days. There are a lot of locals that try and defend Kingsport and claim that places like Eastman and Domtar do not add a bit of funk to the air... hogwash. It downright stinks to high heaven some days.
The hardest thing about this new gig is learning to work within the systems handed to you. In my past life, the systems were technically mine to do whatever with. Install Ruby or Python or whatever to do something. Now... Korn Shell the option, okay lets roll with it.

FloatCamp '09 A Win

2009-03-29T13:31:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the first ever FloatCamp in the Tri-Cities, TN/VA region. Technically it also was the first ever BarCamp in the are as well... I think @alexlavidge said it best when he said it was "like BarCamp, but more focused on startup culture." I'd say that's about right.

In all we probably had between 50 and 60 people attend, and even though the crowd may not have been as large as a BarCamp somewhere else everyone was very enthusiastic. There were folks from Knoxville, Asheville, and points in between there. I'll admit to being quite worried going into the event that the open slots would not get filled with folks wanting to present. However, as soon as we opened up for proposals yesterday morning they filled up quite fast.

When it was all said and done I was exhausted from running around all day helping to keep things organized, but inspired but all the cool people with cool ideas. Heck, I even had time to win the impromptu business idea pitch competition at the end of the day along with Brent (photo by Donna?).

The only bad thing about the whole day was that as someone helping to organize it I couldn't sit in on many of the sessions, but it was worth it. Big thanks to my fellow Will This Float? board members Jose, Rachel, Rayford, and Todd and also to everyone who came out. Extra thanks to Earl Hensley for showing up early out of the blue and helping to move chairs, tables, etc... Also thanks to all the sponsors which are linked up over at www.floatcamp.org.

2009-03-28T13:38:00.001-04:00

Hey local media! You really fouled up not covering FloatCamp. Your loss.

FloatCamp '09

2009-03-28T08:59:00.001-04:00

Here since 8am to get things setup. Things are going and people are already showing up. Coffee (from Starbucks) will be here in a bit... come out.

See FloatCamp for all the info!

Big fun at my favorite new neighborhood bar

2009-03-23T21:28:00.001-04:00

Johnson City TN POLICE: Felony Arrest/ Smith, Cody

On March 22, 2009, at approximately 0445 hrs, Officers of the Johnson City Police Dept arrested Cody J. Smith, W/M, DOB 02-05-89, of 4260 Hwy 19E Elizabethton on charges of Aggravated Assault and Possession of a Handgun While Under the Influence. The arrest stems from a disturbance that occurred in the parking lot of Visions, 1121 N Roan St. Mr. Smith is being housed in the Washington Co. Detention Center in lieu of a $21,000 bond. He is scheduled for arraignment in General Sessions Court on 03-23-09 @ 1330 hrs.