March 29, 2010
Dying with music inside
I had an unusually musical weekend the last few days. Something I complain about often is that my current hometown has little available for live music. Summer is the season of the folk festival, but students are gone in the summer; thus, any folk festival would have no audience. Students make up about 80% of the population of the Palouse, after all.
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| Rocky Votolato rocking Pullman |
The Birds on a Wire Fest to the rescue. The venues are indoors, which is kind of a bummer (though not really...while the daytime temp is in the 50-60s this time of year, once the sun sets it gets freezing outside). The music is good, though. Obviously I won't be hearing any of my favorite east coast artists, but there were a few Seattlites that I was interested to hear. I am thankful that this fest occurred, encouraged that their was good attendance, and hopeful of what next year may bring.
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| Classical music, with modern dance |
Their Errand into the Maze was particularly awesome. My favorite play ever is Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the Graham minotaur reminds me in a strange way of what a powerful Caliban would be. If you do get a chance to check out Martha's company (particularly if they have a nice pit symphony playing), be sure to check them out.
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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Stealing the Network
I first bumped into the Stealing the Network series when reading the exploits of Joe Grand, one of the book's many hacker authors.
The 'Stealing the ...' series of books follows a rather disparate group of computer hackers as they help a former NSA spook (many of them unwittingly) gather the money he needs to retire.
The stories themselves are not fantastic fiction. The writing is uneven and choppy, the characters are stereotypical and not very well thought-out. What is fascinating about this book series is the technical accuracy of the exploits (at some points *too* accurate, with screen shots and step-by-step instructions).
It's a great series to read if you're a system administrator, or just getting into the wonderful field of computer security.
Rated 
by reid
on March 06, 2011
by reid
on March 06, 2011
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Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
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The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009