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RANTS-N-RAVES
The World According to Scott
This is the section of my site that is strictly reserved for my opinions, my beliefs, and whatever I feel like talking about at the moment. It's updated generally on a fairly regular basis, so check back to see what the most recent things on my mind are.
The views and opinions expressed on this page do not reflect that of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department or Cornell University.
See the bottom of the page for links to previous months' Rants.
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Been re-visiting an album I first heard back in the fall of 1987 - Roger Waters' second solo project called "Radio K.A.O.S." Here a couple of cool links (here & here) that give some really good background on the album, as well as the story & concept behind it. Also happened to come across an interesting link that was an interview/conversation between Waters & Trent Reznor. Pretty cool stuff.
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Here's something different - last week we rented some movies & actually ended up seeing three that we really enjoyed: Syriana, Crash & Brokeback Mountain. All of them very well done & honest portrayals of their subject matter: Syriana showed how completely screwed up our world is over oil, Crash showed that no matter how far we think we've come in terms of conquering racism in our country, we still have a long way to go, & finally Brokeback Mountain showed that no matter how much two people love each other, they aren't always able to overcome the difficulties in their own lives enough to figure out how to be together. In this day & age of big blockbuster films that rely more on CGI special effects & non-stop action, seeing three movies that relied specifically on their storylines & characters was very refreshing. I highly recommend each of these films. In all honesty, I cannot remember the last time that I saw three new movies (well, they were new to us anyway...), especially in a row, that were all so good.
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Kathryn was asked to take photos for Commencement for CALS. See the following link to view her shots of the Dean & select students.
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An accurate summary of Guys Camping Weekend.
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My friends Frank & Mary Ciaramello are the proud parents of their new daughter, Nora Rose. Nora was welcomed to the world for the very first time on Thursday June 8, 2006 at 1:00pm, weighing in at 7.5 pounds. Frank is a third-year grad student in the ECE PhD program that I work with. Nora is their first child. See below for a picture of the new family & go here to see additional pictures. Congratulations to Frank & Mary!!!
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Back in April of 2004, I'd posted something about a Bugs Bunny cartoon that I hadn't seen in years. I'd asked anyone who happened to have any info on this particular cartoon to email me. Well, oddly enough, I have been contacted multiple times about this. I've added an update to the April 04 R-n-R page so if anyone else stumbles across my site, they'll know my question has been answered. The cartoon is called "Bushy Hare." As it turns out, this cartoon has been banned & is no longer shown, as it's considered racist & offensive. While I am not completely ignorant & can see the point of this in our age of over-the-top political correctness, it still seems rather stupid to me. The only thing offensive I can think of about this cartoon is the idea that someone somewhere is so concerned about the fact that they're worried it may have an influence on its viewers. If you disagree, feel free to let me know. See below for an image from the cartoon.
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Got an email update from the list I'm on for our good friends in Chemystry Set., written by none other than the venerable Sven Eberlein himself. Sounds like since their bass player Joel left the band, they are now a four-piece unit & Baba, who had originally played mandolin (in ways you wouldn't ever expect a mandolin to be played) is now playing bass. Word from Sven's email is that they will begin playing gigs again in the Bay Area beginning in Fall 2006 & one of these gigs will be a CD release party for their new album. Looking forward to hearing it. See below for three pics from a recent Set gig in Yosemitie. Pictured in the middle if of course, the Man, the Myth, the Legend, Dickie Ogden.
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Kathryn has updated her Photography Portfolio web site at kathryncoldren.com. Make a point to take a look at it, you'll be glad that you did. Her photos are just absolutely amazing. She has a wonderful knack for capturing moments that is just uncanny. I've been in the fortunate position to have actually been present when she's taken a number of these photos & it's a fantastic way for me to be able to re-live some pretty great stuff. See below for one small example & you'll know what I'm talking about.
This photo
was taken of the coastline near Big Sur, CA.
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Caught up with an old friend, Greg Kuppinger (more commonly known as "Moth") this weekend & found out he's got a web site that features some of his original artwork. Be sure to visit Greg's site at gregkuppinger.com & check out his stuff, it's really great. You can email him with any questions at moth1027@hotmail.com.
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After some random surfing on names of old local metal bands I used to go see in Syracuse, NY I came across a site that just made my day. Does anyone out there remember Penn Can Mall? I worked there in a store called Record Town in 1988 (this was actually the third Record Town store I worked at in the Central New York area - the first two being at Northern Lights Mall & then the one that used to be located in downtown Syracuse on Salina Street). The Penn Can Mall site was created by a former confessed "mallrat" who constructed this site as a tribute to the place where he spent a lot of his time growing up. This site rocks!! It brought back so many memories, because I also went through my mallrat phase in the same place, years before I actually worked there. See below for some pics that I downloaded from the site.
The pictures above are actually of the Record Town store I worked in at Penn Can Mall. The first picture was taken of one of the album racks inside the store. Remember albums? Those things you played on a record player/turntable? The other two pictures are exterior shots of the store's front from the perspective outside of it in the mall itself. I loved working in this store!! Being in the suburb of North Syracuse, NY, we attracted a lot of metalhead kids. Sunday afternoons, we get all the kids who had stayed up half the night watching the Headbanger's Ball (back when they actually played decent metal) & would come in looking for the music from the bands they'd seen the night before. My assistant manager at the time was Darrin Turnbull, who I'd worked with at all three of the Record Towns I'd been employed at, & he was the lead guitarist in a band called Axiom. (Darin has gone on to play in a number of other bands since then, including Belladonna, Dogs on Mars & is currently in Brace. We lost touch years ago, but I've found him here & there on the web.)
Pictured above & left is the one & only Mike White. He used to work in a stand/kiosk right outside of the Record Town store I worked in. He was great. He knew everything about everything metal or punk. You could always buy the coolest selection of heavy metal earrings (skulls, guitars, knives, etc...) from his stand. He also was the singer for the band Mannslaughter. We got to be pretty good friends. I haven't seen or talked to him since I went to see Metallica at Weedsport Speedway in the summer of '89 with him. The picture on the right is him with is band Mannslaughter. This is them goofing around with big hair & dubbing themselves "Glamslaughter." Trust me, these guys were heavy in every sense of the word, this is just a goof (& also the only picture of them I could find on the web).
My thanks to Ham (his nickname) for creating the Penn Can Mall site. The pictures of Record Town, Mike White & Mannslaughter were taken from his site.
During the same search, I also came across came across a site for a current local metal band in Syracuse (I know nothing about this band) that had an archive section of bands from back in the day. Here is a promo picture & a scanned copy of the self-released cassette from Mayhem. I saw them at the Lost Horizon back in 1986. I wish I still had this tape... The guy in the middle was the singer, & he worked in Seneca Mall when I did in '85-'86 (I worked at Chappell's then).
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During the same search above, through the Penn Can Mall site, I came across another former mallrat, Trevor Yormick, who is now a professional photographer who now resides in Ithaca. Oddly enough, he was at the same show I was last November of Hotter Than Hell at The Haunt. Check out this link for some excellent shots from the gig.
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There was a band I used to love & went to see quite a bit at the Lost Horizon in Syracuse, NY called The Unholy Wives. They were great. Kind of a combination of influences ranging from punk, goth & a bit of glam thrown in for good measure. They released a CD called "When Sanity Sleeps" that was great & that I still have to this day. During some random surfing, I came across personal web sites for both the singer, Elliott Mattice & the guitar player, Jon Notarthomas. The band split up in the early '90s, which I always thought was a shame. See the picture below to see what they looked like circa the late 1980s along with the cover of their CD.
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Went to see X-Men: The Last Stand. I thought it was pretty cool, but towards the end, it did what most big budget actions movies do - the story got tossed aside in favor of big-time special effects for a shattering conclusion. Not that it wasn't interesting to watch the Golden Gate Bridge along with Alcatraz get annihilated, but was it necessary? At the very least, there were a lot of beautiful aerial shots of the San Francisco Bay, which is never a bad thing. Overall, the movie looked great, but lacked a bit in the storyline area. I thought that Kelsey Grammer was a great choice for the Hank McCoy/Beast character. They even allowed him to say the Beast's trademark line of, "Oh my stars & garters." A couple of the reviews I've read have said things like the movie was short on character development & that there were so many new mutants introduced, it was hard to keep track of who was who. I would agree with sentiments. Overall, as big budget actions flicks go, this was pretty good, but could have benefited from a little more time spent on the script, & a little less time spent on the special effects. If you're a fan of the X-Men comic, you'll enjoy seeing quite a few new characters introduced, even if they're only seen briefly.
Before the movie, caught a trailer for the new Ghost Rider movie. Looks like it won't be released until mid-February 2007. The preview looked kind of cool, but I'm a little unsure of why Nicolas Cage is being cast as Johnny Blaze. No offense Nic, but aren't you a little too old to be playing this character? But, he's a major name, so that should help the movie be a better box office draw. Don't know if the story-line for this one will be worth the price of admission, but the trailer looked cool.
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Tuesday June 6th is the Sixth day of the Sixth month of the Sixth year of the century - 6/6/06. And appropriately, it has also been proclaimed the National Day of Slayer. So, go with it. Blow off work, stay home, put on your favorite Slayer album & turn it up to 11. Holidays like this don't come along very often, so enjoy!
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Be sure to visit kathryncoldren.com to see her Photography Portfolio!!
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