November 30, 2001

 
My internet service provider, Excite@Home, has declared bankruptcy, and this afternoon a federal judge gave them permission to shut down service. A number of cable providers—in my case AT&T—are trying to make sure service doesn't disappear completely because AT&T makes a hefty chunk of change on us fast access people.

Nonetheless, it is possible and perhaps even probable that I will be without full-scale Internet access for the next few days. I will put together a work-around so that I can check email and post minor web site updates, but I will not have "always-on" access or the ability to move big files to and from the net.

 November 29, 2001

 
One thing that's worth repeating, as I get all giddy about this stock or that while the market tanks, is that diversification is crucially important. As the sorry schmoes working for Enron have belated figured out, you must be able to financially withstand the destruction of one of your portfolio holdings. In other words, there should not be a single investment in your portfolio where, if it were to go bankrupt, you would be left in dire straits. Call it the "Do not put all your eggs in one basket" rule of investing. It's an important one.

The local TV news this evening interviewed one poor pitiable 50-something PGE sod who had his entire retirement savings wrapped up in Enron stock. He's watched it go from $480,000 earlier this year to about $3,000 as of this afternoon. I doubt he'll even get that much out of it when all is said and done, and he's not alone in his nightmare.

So if you find yourself with a singular retirement investment, let this catastrophe of others be fair warning to do whatever it takes to diversify. Examine your asset allocation today, and make immediate changes if necessary. The penalty for not doing so can, like in the case of Enron, be severe.

I've posted "Legacy" in the Music section. It's my first completed Digital Performer composition, so the production quality should be judged in that light. See what you think.

 November 28, 2001

 
I had the chance to work with Digital Performer 3 today, so I grabbed the bull by the horns and spent a number of hours struggling with the complexities of modern music production. I swear, learning astrophysics probably isn't this difficult. I'm now able to churn out a tune with the thing, but I'd estimate my knowledge level of the software at about 5 percent.

I should have "Legacy," the song I've been working on, posted in the Music section in the next couple of days. It's not an album cut or anything. It's just another very worthwhile musical experiment in what has turned out to be a long line of worthwhile musical experiments. Whether it's also worthwhile for the listener is an open question, but nobody's got a gun to your head, so if you don't wanna download it, it's no crime.

My 2001 SinFest favs. It was a lot of work to come up with these because though I like the artist's style, I'm not generally speaking a fan of his content. So once again, these are not for the easily offended; standard disclaimers apply: January 24, April 10, June 9, June 28, July 23, August 7, September 20, October 25, October 26, November 24, November 25, and November 26.

 November 27, 2001

 
We received our first monthly dividend payment from the Zweig Total Return (ZTR-NYSE) yesterday, and I couldn't be happier. ZTR currently yields right around 9 percent, and good luck getting that from too many other sources in this economic climate.

I continue to think ZTR makes a very nice core holding for a portfolio, though I concede it's strictly a dividend payer and not something that long-term is going to give you lots of growth. In other words, this closed-end fund isn't the first recommendation I'd make for a retirement account.

If you're wondering about why this ZTR dividend has me so jazzed, it's because it raises our paltry Wealth Percentage over 1 percent for 2001. That's still lower than last year's 1.8 percent, but until about a month or so ago it looked like 2001 was going be under 1 percent, and that's really taking things in the wrong direction.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, best to get in the know by reading my October 19 Opinion piece Winning the American Game.

Dad's turned me on to another option that I plan to take advantage of early next year: Utilicorp United (UCU-NYSE). Though it takes a $250 initial minimum to join, Utilicorp's DRIP (Dividend Re-Investment Program) can be had directly from the company. What I mean is that you don't have go to a brokerage to buy your first share—and that's usually a mandatory headache for starting most DRIPs.

The news about Utilicorp is also good on several other fronts. They are an A-rated company in terms of financial strength, their P/E is under 10, and their dividend yield is currently 4.4 percent. Additionally, purchases through their DRIP program come at a 5 percent discount. That means you get 9.4 percent on your money excluding potential share price appreciation. Yes, that rocks my world.

Anyone interested in information on Utilicorp's DRIP can call 1-800-487-6661 and request materials. I've already done so myself.

 November 24, 2001

 
Erin and I watched Red Planet, a science fiction thriller starring Val Kilmer and Carrie-Ann Moss. Outside of one delicious shower scene and some good special effects this isn't a movie with a whole lot to recommend it. Red Planet isn't terrible—indeed it's technically superb—but its mediocre story is uninspired. If you're looking for mindless sci-fi with great special effects, here you go. If you want something more substantive, this isn't it. Whether that makes Red Planet a worthwhile rental is your call.

 November 23, 2001

 
It was perhaps due to my naivete as a holiday shopper that Erin and I went to this morning's 7 AM opening of Best Buy at 7:30 AM. This was as close to consumer pandemonium as I've seen, and by the time we determined that they were sold out of half the items we came to purchase, the checkout line already snaked up and down the aisles and through the store. I calculated our savings at about $53, but we didn't actually clear a register until after 10 AM.

I suppose it was worthwhile in the end, if only because I got an up-close and personal education on the nature of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. I've avoided it historically, and after today, I may avoid in the future as well.

On the upside, retailers in Salem look like they did okay today. Every store we passed had packed parking lots.

Today is the one year anniversary of my grandmother Norma's death. I've thought about her often in the last 12 months, and it is still a very strange sensation to not have her actively in my life. I keep thinking that Erin and I should be able to hop in the car, drive to Portland, and take her out to dinner. Or to stop by and play a hand of Rook or a game of cribbage.

My thoughts dwell on her most often when I'm at the piano upstairs. It's a piano she gave me—that she went out of her way to get for me—because she knew that I loved music and that I longed to play. Selflessness may have been her defining characteristic.

Her picture sits there above the keys. I look at it and think about how the gifts we give enable others and how so often we never see the fruits of what we've given. Like Erin, Norma was a teacher and so spent her life giving her knowledge and talent to help others improve. I wonder if she knew how many lives she touched.

As a major recipient of her generosity, I know that I couldn't and didn't repay much of what she gave. I am untroubled by this; grandparents and grandchildren are neither financial nor experiential equals. But it is true that the opportunity to write, play, and record music is one that is afforded very few people, and she assumed a large role in enabling my musical dreams.

For this, I can only acknowledge her contribution and express my continuing gratitude.

 November 22, 2001—Thanksgiving

 
Erin created not one but two apple pies for today's festivities after the first pie failed to meet her apparently rigorous standards of attractiveness. (Rest assured that they both tasted delicious.) We assembled at my parents house around noon, and about an hour later Mom delivered another one of her Thanksgiving dinner spectaculars. I could not have eaten more if I'd tried (and I did try!).

The turkey-induced comas hit in the mid-afternoon, but we managed to get in a couple games of Rummycube and one game of Probe. I did well in the latter game with my word "hyperbola." After the games, we celebrated Bret's birthday (happy 30th!), ate cake, and discussed our individual goals and plans for the coming year.

We have so very much for which to be thankful.

 November 21, 2001

 
We watched Shrek, one of the more highly regarded comedies of the year. I thought it was good but not great. The computer animation was terrific, the voice work was excellent (I especially like Eddie Murphy), and the tone enjoyable. I also found the story predictable and thematically uninspired unlike, say, Pixar's Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc.—all of which I consider better movies.

Shrek, a Dreamworks SKG production, definitely gets extra points for sticking it to Disney, though. Many of the jokes come at Disney's expense, and those may have been my favorite parts.

So Shrek: Good but not great. Nonetheless, a very worthwhile rental.

 November 20, 2001

 
I checked in with SinFest, an online comic that I, uh, occasionally check in with, and here are some more favorites. Note that SinFest is not for the easily offended, and it's frequently unfunny. The funny ones are pretty good, though, and deeper than you'd expect a comic to be. Here's some year 2000 favs: June 8, July 6, August 6, August 19, and September 4. If I have time, I'll post links to some of my 2001 favs soon.

I've sprinkled Pop-up text throughout Davison Online, so many of the links on the site now contain additional commentary which can be viewed by hovering your cursor over the link. The effect is similar to what you see with VH1's Pop-Up videos, but it only works if you're using Internet Explorer. Netscape 4.x and ealier ignore the HTML code necessary to make the trick work. (Sorry, there's nothing I can do about that.) If you hold your cursor over the VH1 link, for example, after a few seconds you should see pop-up text that begins "If you can read this...."

I've not placed Pop-up text on every link, but you can find them in a lot of places. See what you think.

 November 19, 2001

 
I forgot to mention that Erin and I walked over to the local Pizza Hut last Friday night for dinner, and as usual, there's a story to tell. As close as the restaurant is, you'd think we'd have been there at least once before now. Nope. And guess what? We won't be going back. There was one waitress, a poor harried college-age woman, scrambling about the dining area attempting to serve all patrons. She did well, considering. And I'll concede that the pizza itself was OK. (Of course when was the last time I met a pizza I didn't like?)

No, where we were really let down was (1) our order, (2) the establishment's cleanliness, and (3) the dining area's atmosphere.

I won't bore you with the details of how they messed up the order (I'll bore you with other things), but I will say that a server should not have to explain to a customer how they really should give their dinner a try even though it doesn't look remotely like what they thought they ordered. Ultimately, pizza is pretty much pizza, so it could've been worse.

The cleanliness of the restaurant was worse. I don't recall ever seeing a restaurant with so much refuse in the dining area. There were even pizza stains on the window shades in the booth where we were sitting. One hopes that their kitchen is much better kept than this, but it doesn't exactly pump you up with confidence.

And that ties into the overall atmosphere of the joint. The teenagers sweating away in the kitchen and blasting in and out of the side door on their way to make pizza deliveries were loud, obnoxious, and boisterous. The cacophany was bearable, but really, should someone sitting down for a paying meal have to bear it?

"If the phone rings, put them on hold!" yelled the manager above the din. I thought that aptly captured their customer service attitude. Erin and I laughed our way through most of the meal, but we won't be back.

Erin and I have been trying different pizza joints for a few years. We were glued to Papa Murphy's for a few months, but then they shrunk the size of their pizza and upped the price. Occasionally you'll find coupons for their large Chicago-style for $9.99, and that's a great deal if you don't mind take-and-bake. Ultimately, I think we were put off by Papa Murphy's trying to give us less pizza at the same (or higher) price and then telling us what a great deal we were getting. It felt duplicitious.

We tried Figaro's a couple of times, and we've found them to have far and away the best customer service. In our experience, their workers are clean, professional, and friendly. Unfortunately, their pizza is only fair. If it were better, we'd probably go to Figaro's all the time.

Our current favorite is Papa John's, which is sort of a reverse image of Figaro's. Papa John's pizza is the best we've found, but their customer service is terrible. Their workers tend to be a slow, dim-witted, unprofessional bunch (which is to say non-trained teens), and if the pizza weren't so good we'd never return. But it is pretty darn fine pizza.

As evidence by last Friday's Pizza Hut adventure, we're continuing to look for the perfect pizza place. I'll let you know if we find it.

 November 18, 2001

 
Dave came up yesterday with his iMac and Korg i3 keyboard, and we spent much of the day writing, playing, and recording a song called tentatively called "Wasted Smiles." We didn't get it finished, but it was a blast collaborating and hopefully we'll be able to put the rest of it together before too long. Assuming Dave agrees, I'll post an MP3 of it in the Music section whenever we get it done.

Also, we did a fair amount of work on web site stuff, we ran over to my parents so Dave could offer them something of a pharmaceutical consultation (for another relative), and we played some Evo and Quake III: Arena. Oh, and we created an emergency MacOS 9.2.1 boot disk with diagnostic and repair utilities on it so that Dave has a recovery plan should his G3 or iMac have hard drive problems.

We probably stayed up too late chatting and doing things (as we frequently do). It's OK, though. I'll forgo sleep for this.

 November 16, 2001

 
The first real, freely available Star Wars Episode II trailer is now online, and my mini-review is that the results are mixed. On the plus side, the special effects are top-notch, the story seems engaging, and Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman appear to be in fine form both as actors and as beautiful people to stare at on screen.

A possible downside comes in the casting of Hayden Christensen who plays the teenage Anakin Skywalker. While blessed with hunky good looks, Hayden may not be much of an acting improvement over Jake Lloyd if the trailer is any indication. Perhaps bad acting is like the Force, passed down from generation to generation, from Lloyd to Christensen to Hamill. (And if so, "May the Force be with you" might be something akin to "Break a leg" in theatre craft.) I'm hoping that the trailer didn't do Christensen's performance justice, but writer/director George Lucas has a history of not casting roles particularly well and of not getting very good performances from those he casts. I'll be hoping for the best, meaning I'd like this picture to be substantially better than Episode I.

Speaking of movies, I watched The 6th Day, a science fiction/thriller/action flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's not The Matrix, but on the whole I thought it was one of the better films of its genre that I'd seen in a while (which isn't saying much).

It touches on a number of philosophical issues surrounding cloning and the nature of humanity, and I appreciated that intellectual depth, because the rest of the film—the action sequences in particular—were cookie-cutter boring. There's no way this is a great movie, but it could've been a lot worse (and here I'm thinking of Con Air), so for that I'm thankful. Probably OK as a rental if you like thrillers. Also won't kill you to miss it. But it was better than I expected.

 November 14, 2001

 
Last night I attended a meeting of Crime Victims United (CVU), the victims' rights organization responsible for Measure 11 (mandatory minimum sentencing for violent crime). I'd been exchanging emails with the Secretary of the group on the issue of the death penalty, and he invited me to the meeting.

There is a "Life for a Life" initiative which may qualify for the ballot. It would replace the death penalty with a life sentence without the possibility of parole, and it would commute the sentences of the 25 men on death row to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

I've long been opposed to the death penalty for a variety of reasons, none of which I'll delve into here (but see my Opinion piece "The Death Penalty: Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong" if you're so inclined). In going to the CVU meeting I was hoping, minimally, to keep the group from coming out against this measure.

Well, we didn't conduct a straw poll but I'm confident in saying that I was the only one in the room who opposes the death penalty. Indeed when I informed folks of my opposition, one fellow—an ex-Sergeant at the Oregon State Penitentiary who used to work with my dad—jokingly told me to "Get the hell out!" Happily, CVU does not and will not take a formal position on the death penalty because they believe it is outside the purview of their victims rights mission and because they—believe it or not—have members on both sides of the issue.

So I'm hopeful that the Life for a Life initiative will at least get off the ground in Oregon. I don't know that it will pass, but I guess that's why we have elections. Funny thing about CVU is that except for the issue of the death penalty, I subscribe to much of their philosophy which is to say that I believe violent criminals belong in jail for a long time. I would think that everybody would share that belief, but it's a remarkably contentious issue.

At this evening's meeting of the neighborhood association we discussed the development of a large plot of land in our neighborhood that was formerly a state home for the mentally handicapped. How this gets developed will have a big impact locally, and our fear is that some developer will come in a plant strip malls. We're encouraging the state to accept a bid from a sustainable development group, but we'll see what comes of things.

In the meantime, I'll be setting up the neighborhood assocation web site within the next month of so. I'll be sure to post a link when it's done.

 November 12, 2001

 
Veterans Day or no, I was amazed to find Saving Private Ryan last night on ABC, and I don't recall the last time I was so appalled to see something on TV. The film is undoubtedly a classic (already), and one of the best war movies of all-time, but in no way, shape, or form does it belong unedited(!) on network television. HBO or Showtime, fine. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, or WB, no way. The movie is accurately violent in its depiction of war, and we see people die and get dismembered in wide variety of ways. I also thought for sure that there was some prohibition against the F-word on network TV but apparently not.

Saving Private Ryan is, as I say, an excellent and worthwhile picture, but it's for mature audiences, and I find the thought that children could have turned on the TV and seen this to be revolting. ABC should be ashamed, but they'll likely be self-congratulatory.

 November 10, 2001

 
Erin and I did a community leaf rake thing in the park this morning, and it was good to get out and clean up the park with a bunch of our neighbors. The best part is that we didn't even have to clean up the piles of leaves we created. The city will come by with a work crew and take care of that for us.

Now we just need to rake our own back yard, something that is not longer visible what with all the leaves piled as high as they are.

Dave stopped in mid-afternoon and we headed down to The Computer Store to get some hands-on time with the new Apple iPod MP3 player device. It is remarkably small, pretty easy to use, and definitely fun to play with. We seemed to be the only folks interested though, because even thought this was its debut day, there was no line to see the thing, and they had plenty in stock.

My impressions having monkeyed with the iPod? I wouldn't spend $400 on it. Not that it isn't the greatest portable MP3 player ever ('cause it probably is). I just don't see $400 in value there. If the hard drive were 10 GB instead of 5 GB, it would be a much more tempting proposition, because then you could evaluate the iPod as a portable hard drive with the MP3 player thing being kind of a really excellent bonus. From that perspective, $400 is a deal. But as it stands the 5 GB drive will be mostly taken up by MP3s and although it has that portable hard drive capability, there wouldn't be much extra space after the MP3s are loaded on.

As I say, I hope Apple sells a bundle of these little guys, and I definitely wouldn't mind having one, but I'll be waiting for version 2.0.

After we returned from The Computer Store, Dave helped me fiddle with my Airport set-up, and we got the Base Station to route Internet service over to Zeke. So now I can print and web surf from both Trin and Zeke, and that's pretty slick. Dave is an utter hero for solving this, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Erin was thrilled to learn she can now web surf on Zeke.

Dave and I haven't been able to solve the issue of hosting Quake III: Arena over Airport because the Base Station takes the IP number normally held by Trin and distributes the Internet signal from there. Since Q3 requires direct connection to an IP number (and port) we're not sure how to solve this problem yet other than to hardwire Trin back into the LAN. But other than that, the Airport configuration I'm running now is pretty darn cool.

Erin and I watched Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do! this evening, and I'm prepared to call it a pleasant enough movie to warrant a rental. It's not terribly deep, but it is reasonably entertaining and it's surely unlike most movies out there, so it deserves points for variety if nothing else. Not great but better than a lot of stuff I've seen.

Last night we had Erin's student teacher, Pam, over for dinner. As is always the case when you have two (or more) teachers together, the talk was predominantly about education, but this was nothing but a pleasure. Pam is idealistic and enthusiastic about teaching as most new teachers are, but she seemed to me to be well-grounded in the reality of what's possible. That is to say that I think she realizes that some kids just don't want to learn and as a teacher you can't make them, and that's not a teacher's fault. I'm confident that she'll be an excellent educator, and I was really happy to have the chance to meet her.

 November 8, 2001

 
And so life moves on. The temperature has dropped, and the leaves are falling. Frost covers the morning landscape, and the crisp air makes one long for a little more time in bed. It's a beautiful time of year.

I drove up to Portland for my latest pheresis donation with the Red Cross. This one was more exciting than most because the return line needle punctured a vein in my left arm late in the donation. This sounds a lot more painful that the actual experience, but it did leave a heckuva a bruise. I'm just doing lots of icing and not doing any lifting. The problem was likely caused by scar tissue built up over the course of my years of donations. Because a fair amount of force is now required to insert the needle through the scar tissue, they probably pushed so far that the needle rested against the back of the vein for most of the donation. By the end of the process, the needle worked its way through, and hey, bruise-city (aka a "Red Cross tattoo"). It's not permanent, painful, or dangerous in case anyone's more concerned than I am.

On my way back from Portland, I stopped at Fry's Electronics and purchased a 17" CRT monitor. I looked at the LCD monitors which have the dual advantages of being smaller and more energy efficient, but I couldn't justify spending four or five times more just for an LCD.

I plan to use the monitor with Zeke. Coupled with the 16" Apple RGB I've got on Zeke right now, that should give me sufficient screen real estate to effectively run Audio Desk or Digital Performer. The 16" monitor alone has proved woefully insufficient, believe you me! I figure that when I eventually upgrade to a new desktop machine I'll revisit the idea of an LCD monitor to use in conjunction with the 17" monitor a just picked up.

 November 4, 2001

 
Late last night Erin and I checked out Memento on DVD. This film noir flick is one of the more interesting I've seen recently both in psychological and philosophical terms. It's about a guy who is unable to form short-term memories and who is trying to avenge the death of his wife. The story is told in a reverse chronological order (which is also intriguing), and though I think the picture cheats a little bit in the end, it's still a very entertaining ride. Highly recommended.

Bret came down to pick up his mail and shoot some hoops, and we ended up playing 2 v 2 in the park with a couple of other guys. The Davison Boys captured 3 of 4 games, and I'm happy to report that I did not embarrass myself in the proceedings. I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all, but what great exercise. Bret oughta come down more often so I can stay in shape.

 November 3, 2001

 
Erin and I went to see Monsters, Inc. today, and I'm happy to pronounce it another winner in the Pixar pantheon. How an entirely computer-generated movie can effectively deal with more complex themes than your run of the mill Hollywood flick is beyond me, but Monsters, Inc. does it. I don't think this is essential viewing in the theatre, but it's not money poorly spent. Recommended. (The Pixar short, For the Birds, was also excellent.)

The Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones trailer was a nice bonus. The trailer is visually arresting, but the complete sound experience is simply Vader breathing—quite a let down, frankly. The SW2: AOTC trailer should be available on the Apple QuickTime Movie Trailers site in the next week. I'll look forward to slo-mo-ing some of the sequences to see what's going on.

While we were downtown, we lunched at Escape from New York pizza which is owned by a woman from Erin's soccer team. Big slices, low prices, and yumminess galore.

 November 1, 2001

 
I've mentioned before just how daunting a task I face with figuring out all this music recording software, and, well, I'm gonna talk about it again, because the going is slow.

There's a lot of software that I know a lot about, and that's helpful when learning other programs because, on the Mac at least, many elements cross apply. For example, when I had to learn Adobe InDesign last year for a business project, I picked it up in a great big hurry because I was already well-versed in Adobe PageMaker. Similarly, once upon a time I leveraged my knowledge of Quicken for a QuickBooks gig. While the programs are different, there's enough in common that a reasonably bright computer monkey like myself can deal with it quickly.

All of which brings me to Digital Performer, because it is substantially unlike any program I have ever used. I'm trying to apply my limited knowledge of AudioDesk (which is a stripped down earlier version of Digital Performer) to DP3, but I don't even know AudioDesk that well, so I'm lost in uncharted waters. Plus Digital Performer's manual is about a thousand pages, and they're not of the I-Can-Read variety. So today I made the decision to return to AudioDesk and learn that program more thoroughly before moving to DP3. I was hoping not to have to—I wanted to jump straight into DP3—but there aren't going to be any shortcuts. DP3 is too complex.

So expect a couple more songs online in the next few weeks as I complete my AudioDesk training. Once I hit DP3, I'm not sure how much I'll be posting since the MP3 conversion process takes a little work, and I'll be concentrated on putting the album together. Unofficially, I'm hoping to have the CD out next summer, but I'll keep the Music section updated with progress as I go.